. tin*  Sheolagifa/  * 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


% 


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Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


Division 


Dr639 


Section 


M.Z 

Copy./ 


A riECE  OF  THE  CONGO  STATE  RAILWAY 


(pioneeting  on  Congo 


REV.  W.  HOLMAN  BENTLEY 


CHEVALIER  DE  L’ORDKE  KOVAL  DU  LION 

AUTHOR  OF  ‘THE  DICTIONARY  AND  GRAMMAR  OF  THE  KONGO  LANGUAGE’ 
TRANSLATOR  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  INTO  KONGO 
‘ LIFE  ON  THE  CONGO,’  ETC. 


VOLUME  II 


WITH  A MAP  AND  -m  ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM 
SKETCHES,  PHOTOGRAPHS  AND  MATERIALS 

SUPPLIED  BY  THE  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY,  SEVERAL  OF  THEIR  MISSIONARIES 
AND  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  FREE  STATE 


NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

Publishers  of  Ev'angelical  Literature 


1900 


I 


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I S 


.'I 


V 

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i 


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-■ ': 


V. 


V 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

^ PACE 

The  Transport  of  the  Peace  to  Stanley  Pool:  1883  . . . ’9 

CHAPTER  II. 

Exploration  of  the  Upper  River;  1884-6 48 

CHAPTER  HI 

New  Stations  on  the  Upper  River:  1886-90 129 

CHAPTER  IV 

Progress  on  the  Upper  River:  1890-9 225 

CHAPTER  V 

Development  in  the  Cataract  Region:  1887-99  ....  296 

CHAPTER  VI 

Other  Missions  on  the  Congo . . 411 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  Government  of  the  Congo  Free  State 423 

APPENDIX  I 

Congo  Missionaries 429 

APPENDIX  II 

The  Lord’s  Prayer  in  Eight  of  the  Kongo  Languages  and 

Dialects 433 

APPENDIX  HI 

M.4LARIAL  Fever,  its  Genesis  and  Effects 435 

INDEX  . . 440 


MONSKMBK  WOMEN 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


TAGE 

A Piece  of  the  Congo  State  Railway  ....  Frontispiece 

Monsembe  Women 6 

Woman’.s  Dress,  Upper  River 9 

The  Peace  wooding  up 12 

A Congo  Stool  17 

Map  of  Stanley  Pool 24 

Hippopotamus  Life 32 

Arthington  Station,  Stanley  Pool,  and  Chickabiddy  ...  35 

Skull  of  a Hippopotamus 47 

Congo  Spears 48 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


7 


PACE 

Map  of  Navigable  Portion  of  the  Upper  Congo  ....  50 

Sango  Men,  Upper  Mobangi  ...  54 

Sango  Women 55 

First  Mission  House  at  Wathen 61 

A Congo  Spoon 67 

G.  R.  R.  Cameron 76 

State  Court  of  Justice,  Banana 80 

The  Governor-Gener.vl’s  House,  Boma 83 

A Floating  Island  on  the  Upper  Congo 89 

Type  of  the  Uluki  River 9^ 

Congo  Knives  and  Necklace  of  Leopards’  Teeth  • . . • 93 

The  Chief  of  Basoko 100 

Congo  State  Fort  at  Basoko 103 

Congo  Arrows 1 1 1 

A.  E.  Scrivener  . • n7 

A Fetish 128 

W.  Holman  Bentley  and  Mrs.  Bentley 134 

Kinshasa,  Stanley  Pool 141 

A Prisoner  of  War 153 

The  Ntsele  Valley 155 

The  Comber  Family 166 

Two  OF  the  Bangala  Workmen 178 

The  Old  Chapel,  San  Salvador 19 1 

T.  Lewis  and  Mrs.  Lewis 195 

Wathen  Plateau 197 

H.  R.  Phillips 203 

W.  L.  Forfeitt 210 

P".  R.  Oram 215 

First  Mission  House,  Monsp;mbe 218 

W.  H.  White 220 

S.S.  Goodwii.l 222 

Grenfell  on  Oxback  224 

An  Arab  Sandal 225 

J.  L.  Roger  226 

J.  Clark 236 

School  Chapel,  Bolobo 237 

Miss  L.  M.  de  Hailes 239 

Lukolela  Mission  House,  a Young  Palm  in  the  P'oreground  . 241 

J.  Whitehead 244 

Ndombi  in  Fetish  Dress 245 

Ndombi  in  Official  Dress • . . 246 

The  Crocodile  which  ate  Bwala 250 

Lusala  Kavundi 251 

■•Al  Fresco’  School,  Lukolela 252 

High  Street,  Monsembe 255 

Polygamy  Terrace,  Monsembe 260 

Monsembe  Station  in  Flood  ........  265 


8 


ILLUSTR^ITIONS 


PAGE 

Bangala  Village,  Bopoto 267 

A Moya  Village,  Bopoto 272 

Oram’s  Grave 275 

First  Converts  at  Bopoto  . . . 277 

The  Goodwill  leaving  Bopoto  to  found  Sargent  Station,  Yakusu  279 

Ruins  of  Arab  Mosque  at  Isangi 281 

Turumbu  Houses  282 

Map  of  the  Yakusu  District 283 

W.  H.  Stapleton 287 

A Wrestling  Match 290 

Ngbele,  a Piece  of  Iron  Currency  six  Feet  long.  . . 293 

Sargent  Station 294 

Mbumba  of  Mputu 296 

R.  H.  C.  Graham 300 

Etoto 302 

New  Mission  Chapel  in  building,  San  Salvador  ....  307 

New  Chapel,  San  Salvador,  completed 310 

J.  PiNNOCK 315 

Tumba  and  Railway  Station 317 

J.  Lawson  Forfeitt 319 

Mission  House,  Wathen 322 

Makitu’s  Village,  Matadi 326 

Stanley  Falls  340 

Kinsuka  Village 350 

Philip  Davies,  B.A 359 

Lo 373 

Some  of  Makitu’s  Wives 382 

Mission  House,  Wathen.  The  Children  from  Mr.  Bell’s  District  395 

Mr.  Bentley’s  House  at  Wathen 399 

Kibokolo 409 

Map  of  the  Protestant  Missions  on  the  Congo  . . . .411 

American  Baptist  Mission,  Ilebo  . . 413 

Roman  Catholic  Mission,  Matadi 419 

Map  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Missions  on  the  Congo  . . .421 

Seven  Postage  Stamps  of  the  Congo  Free  State;  Two  of  the 

Portuguese  Congo 422 

A Congo  Basket 428 

Congo  Fetishes 439 


woman’s  dress,  upper  river 


PIONEERING 
ON  THE  CONGO 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE  TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


‘ I go  to  open  the  door  to  Central  Africa.  It  is  probable  that  I may  die  there. 
Young  men  in  England,  see  to  it,  that  that  door  is  never  again  shut.’ — David 
Livingstone. 

While  we  were  busy  securing  our  communications  and 
establishing  ourselves  at  Stanley  Pool,  Grenfell  was  at  home 
superintending  the  construction  of  the  steamer  Peace.  She 
was  built  by  Messrs,  Thornycroft  & Co.,  of  Chiswjck,  London. 
Her  length  is  70  ft.  and  her  width  10  ft.  6 in.  Her  design  was 
VOL.  II.  B 


lO 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


no  simple  matter,  for  two  points  were  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance— shallowness  of  draught,  and  portability  of  component 
parts.  The  waterway  of  the  upper  river  is  so  obstructed  by 
sandbanks,  and  in  some  parts  by  rocks,  that  a steamer  of 
ordinary  shape  and  draught  would  be  practically  useless. 
The  parts  of  the  steamer  had  to  be  carried  on  men’s  heads 
for  235  miles  over  hilly  roads  and  jungle  paths,  so  the  weight 
of  each  part  had  to  be  reduced  to  65  lb.  This  was  actually 
accomplished.  Only  three  loads  exceeded  this  weight ; two 
of  these  were  less  than  112  lb.  ; the  third,  the  steam  separator, 
weighed  250  lb.  The  boiler  is  always  the  heavy  part  of  such 
a vessel,  but  a boiler  of  a new  type,  designed  by  Mr.  Thorny- 
croft,  was  adopted,  to  obviate  that  difficulty.  At  the  base  of 
the  furnace  is  a great  horse-shoe  pipe,  into  which  are  fastened 
a number  of  steel  tubes,  which  surround  the  furnace,  and 
between  which  the  fire  has  to  pass  ; these  tubes  are  connected 
with  a steam-chest  above.  This  very  portable  form  of  boiler 
has  another  great  advantage  : sufficient  steam  to  start  the  boat 
can  be  raised  from  cold  water  in  ten  minutes,  while  full  pres- 
sure is  attained  in  from  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes.  For  pioneer 
work  among  savage  people  such  a boiler  is  specially  useful, 
thus  minimizing  the  danger  from  a sudden  attack.  A further 
provision  against  the  savagery  of  the  natives  is  made  in  the 
form  of  arrow-guards ; wire  network  screens,  strong  enough 
to  stop  spears  and  slugs,  and  close  enough  to  stop  even  the 
small  poisoned  arrows  used  by  some  of  the  tribes,  were  hinged 
and  folded  up  to  the  mahogany  sun-awning.  They  could  be 
let  down  in  a minute  to  protect  the  steersman  and  the  man  in 
charge  of  the  engines.  There  are  two  conveniently  arranged 
cabins,  fitted  in  mahogany,  one  forward  and  the  other  aft  of 
the  engine-room.  Two  sleeping  berths  can  be  made  up  in 
each  cabin  ; the  tops  of  the  cabins  can  be  enclosed  by  sets 
of  curtains,  and  will  then  furnish  sleeping  accommodation  for 
four  more  passengers.  In  fair  weather  these  cabin-tops  are 
the  more  agreeable  sleeping-places. 

The  boat  is  divided  into  seven  water-tight  compartments,  so 
that  if  a hole  were  knocked  through  her  plates  she  would  still 
float,  even  when  one  compartment  was  full  of  water.  She  is 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


II 


built  of  Bessemer  steel,  coated  with  zinc  to  prevent  rust.  The 
plates,  being  of  a very  ‘ mild  ’ temper,  are  tough,  and  would 
merely  yield  to  a blow  sufficient  to  start,  or  penetrate,  a thicker 
and  more  rigid  plate.  Her  bottom  is  almost  flat,  her  keel  being 
only  three  inches  deeper  than  her  sides.  She  draws  twelve 
inches  of  waterwhen  light,and  only  eighteen  inches  with  six  tons 
on  board.  Her  full  speed  is  twelve  miles  an  hour,  but  the  ordi- 
naryworking speed  is  about  eight  miles  h The  steamer  is  thus  of 
very  shallow  draught,  being  able  to  navigatp  a channel  of  water 
only  twelve  inches  deep ; to  fit  her  for  this  it  was  necessary  to 
make  her  two  sixteen-inch  propellers  work  in  tunnels  ; in  this 
w'ay  they  are  also  kept  clear  of  the  ground,  and  protected  from 
contact  with  floating  objects.  Although  the  tunnels  rise  to 
five  inches  above  the  water  level  they  are  always  full  of  water, 
and  the  propellers  are  completely  immersed  when  in  motion. 
Each  propeller  is  driven  by  a separate  engine,  and  either  is 
able  to  drive  the  steamer  in  case  of  the  breakdown  of  one. 

The  Peace  was  built  with  copper  rivets,  and  on  October  i6, 
1882,  she  ran  her  trial  trip  on  the  Thames.  After  this  she  was 
taken  to  pieces  and  packed.  She  made  up  into  800  packages, 
including  duplicate  parts  of  the  machinery.  On  December  9 
Grenfell  left  Liverpool  with  his  precious  charge.  He  was 
associated  with  W.  H.  Doke,  a new  colleague,  who  hoped  to 
help  in  the  transport  of  the  steamer.  When  the  ocean  steamer 
reached  Banana,  it  was  expected  that  the  loads  would  have 
to  be  put  ashore  to  await  a river  steamer.  Grenfell  found  that 
the  Prins  Hendrik,  the  largest  river  steamer  of  the  Dutch 
House,  was  in  the  river,  and  at  liberty  ; so,  instead  of  breaking 
up  the  large  packages  at  Banana,  the  Prins  was  brought  along- 
side and  the  Liverpool  steamer  discharged  into  her,  thus  saving 
much  trouble.  When  the  Prins  Hendrik  reached  Underhill  on 
the  second  day,  it  was  found  that  the  river  was  very  high  ; 
the  steamer  could  lie  so  close  to  the  beach  that  she  could  be 
discharged  by  her  planks  instead  of  by  boat.  They  might 

' Diameter  of  cylinders,  6^  in. ; stroke  of  cylinders,  8 in. ; at  full  speed,  50  indi- 
cated horse- power,  and  460  revolutions  per  minute  ; at  speed  of  7 or  8 miles,  150-250 
revolutions  per  minute ; weight  of  hull  and  machinery,  6 tons,  not  including  cabins 
and  fittings. 


THE  PEACE  WOODING  UP 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


13 


well  feel  that  all  things  were  working  together  for  good. 
After  the  cargo  was  delivered  there  was  a busy  time  preparing 
the  packages  for  the  overland  transport.  Seventy  Kru  boys 
and  coast  work-people  had  arrived  by  the  same  steamer 
to  help  in  the  up-country  work  ; a like  number  were  just 
returning  home,  their  time  of  service  finished. 

Thus  far,  with  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Comber,  our  staff  had 
suffered  no  loss  by  death.  The  other  mission  and  Stanley’s 
expedition  had  lost  many  men,  but  although  we  had  often 
been  down  with  fever,  life  had  mercifully  been  spared.  In 
September,  1882,  Comber  made  a comparison  of  our 
statistics  and  those  of  our  contemporaries  ; it  was  as 
follows : — 


Loss  by  Death. 

Returned. 

In  Africa. 

Total. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society  i 

0 

8 

9 

Livingstone  Mission  8 

'4 

15 

37 

Stanley’s  expedition  1 1 

14 

3r 

62 

This  included  Grenfell,  but  not  Hughes  and  Moolenaar, 
who  had  not  then  arrived  out.  Our  staff  had  been  very  small, 
considering  the  work  which  we  had  accomplished.  Five 
months  had  passed  since  the  above  comparisons  were  made, 
and  now  our  tale  of  losses  was  to  commence. 

Doke  had  been  very  energetic  in  the  preparation  of  the 
steamer  loads,  and  had  had  good  health,  but  before  he  had 
been  three  weeks  in  the  country  he  was  stricken  with  fever. 
There  was  nothing  remarkable  in  a new-comer  early  paying 
his  fever  dues ; that  could  only  be  expected.  He  had 
fatigued  himself  through  a stroll  on  the  hill  in  the  early 
morning  looking  for  antelopes,  and  became  rather  feverish 
towards  evening.  He  got  up  next  morning,  but  had  to 
return  to  bed  because  his  temperature  was  102°  F.  Crudg- 
ington  was  on  the  station,  and  he  nursed  him.  There  was 
no  reason  to  regard  the  fever  seriously,  but  it  became  con- 
tinuous, and  on  February  7 he  died. 

His  death  so  soon  after  his  arrival  was  a great  shock  to 
us  all ; our  little  band  had  been  so  wonderfully  preserved 
hitherto.  Grenfell,  who  had  been  most  closely  associated 
with  him,  wrote : ‘ To  know  Doke,  was  to  love  him  ; working 


14 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


and  living  with  him,  as  I have  done  for  many  months  past, 

I could  not  but  admire  him  ; his  sterling  worth,  unobtrusive 
devotion,  and  deep-seated  piety  made  me  feel  that  he  was 
specially  qualified  for  our  work  out  here.  But  he  has  been 
called  higher,  and  our  hearts  ache,  and  our  eyes  are  full.’ 
He  seemed  indeed  eminently  fitted  for  the  work,  and  his 
death  was  the  second  of  many  inscrutable  dealings  of  Pro- 
vidence which  were  to  be  repeated  again  and  again.  Doke 
himself  wrote;  ‘It  may  be  I may  only  be  used  for  a short 
while  to  draw  others  into  this  noble  undertaking ; if  so,  I am 
more  than  content ; long  or  short,  it  is  honour  and  privilege 
to  engage  in  it,  be  it  only  in  ever  so  humble  a way.’  So  we 
must  leave  it  until  that  time  when,  in  the  light  of  eternity,  all 
things  will  be  made  clear.  To  us  it  came  as  no  revelation 
that  our  work  was  beset  with  danger,  but  it  made  us  anxious, 
lest  it  should  deter  others  from  coming.  Comber  wrote  an 
earnest  appeal,  showing  that  the  first  difficulties  were  over- 
come ; the  great  upper  river  lay  open  before  us.  Pointing  out 
the  great  possibilities  which  were  ours,  he  urged  that  seven 
young  men  should  give  themselves  to  the  work. 

The  staff  of  the  mission  was  thus  distributed  : — San  Salva- 
dor, Dixon  and  Weeks;  Underhill,  Butcher;  Bayneston, 
Hughes ; Wathen  and  the  boat,  Hartland  and  Moolenaar  ; 
Stanley  Pool,  Comber  and  Bentley ; in  charge  of  the  Peace, 
Grenfell. 

Crudgington  went  to  England  for  a month  or  two  by 
arrangement  with  the  Home  Committee.  He  left  imme- 
diately after  the  death  of  Doke.  He  had  had  some  time  at 
home  after  our  first  trip  to  Stanley  Pool,  and  was  now  to 
have  three  or  four  months  more,  and  return  married.  Then 
Hartland  was  to  take  his  furlough,  and  later  Comber  and  I. 
So  we  planned. 

At  Stanley  Pool  we  pushed  on  with  the  building  of  the 
Arthington  station.  A large  dwelling-house  of  sticks  and 
grass  was  built.  The  natives  brought  us  grass  for  sale,  but 
although  they  were  friendly,  they  were  a wild,  rough  lot ; 
boisterous,  noisy,  troublesome,  most  unabashed,  they  were 
always  ready  to  take  liberties.  They  knew  that  white  men 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


15 


shook  hands  when  they  met  each  other,  and  they  would  do 
so ; but  they  also  knew  that  it  was  proper  to  offer  the  right 
hand  ; many  of  them,  therefore,  were  careful  to  offer  the  left 
hand.  This  was  no  mistake,  but  W'as  a studied  rudeness.  It 
was  hard  to  know  how  to  manage  them.  We  had  been  used 
to  very  different  behaviour ; now  we  had  to  repress,  and  to 
keep  them  in  their  place.  We  wanted  to  win  their  hearts, 
but  had  to  be  firm  with  them.  The  boys  and  young  men, 
led  by  Njuele,  Nga  Liema’s  stepson,  visited  us  nearly  every 
day ; they  came  into  the  house,  and  were  interested  in  all 
they  saw.  We  showed  them  the  river  pictures  in  Stanley’s 
book,  our  watches,  whatever  we  thought  would  interest  them  ; 
but  if  a sharp  look-out  was  not  kept,  one  of  them  w'ould  be 
sprawling  upon  my  bed,  with  his  skin  and  clothes  stained 
with  cam-wood,  or  they  would  sit  on  the  table  or  do  some- 
thing which  they  knew  they  ought  not. 

It  took  us  some  time  to  realize  that  this  was  an  intentional 
transgression  of  the  bounds  of  propriety.  It  was,  however, 
part  of  the  attitude  of  bluff  and  bully  which  they  always 
assumed  toward  the  Bayansi  or  to  the  Bakongo  traders. 
If  a trader  managed  to  get  a specially  striking  cloth  on  the 
coast,  and  to  take  it  to  one  of  these  Bateke,  he  would  ask 
to  be  allowed  to  see  it,  and  then  with  an  air  of  contempt 
he  would  put  it  on  the  ground,  and  sit  upon  it,  remarking 
that  such  rubbish  was  only  fit  for  a dust-cloth.  So  they 
bluffed  every  one,  and  even  tried  to  do  the  same  to  us,  when 
paying  us  a friendly  visit,  and  in  a good  humour.  We  did 
not  get  vexed  with  them,  but  had  to  be  on  our  guard  in 
a way  which  was  never  necessary  with  other  people. 

They  were  great  thieves,  and  although  we  kept  too  sharp 
an  eye  on  them  when  in  the  house,  they  did  sometimes  rob 
in  other  ways.  They  were  selling  us  grass  in  great  bundles, 
for  the  roof  of  the  house.  Our  suspicions  were  roused,  and 
we  watched  carefully  one  day.  A man  came  with  ten  others 
to  sell  us  bundles  of  grass.  We  bought  the  man’s  bundle, 
and  tossed  it  over  a wooden  fence  into  a compound.  While 
the  other  men  were  selling  their  bundles,  the  first  man  was 
seen  to  reach  his  long  arms  over  the  fence  and  pull  over  the 


i6 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


bundle  just  bought,  and  carry  it  to  be  sold  once  more.  It 
was  a bold  act.  Two  or  three  boys  were  called  to  stand 
ready,  and  then  we  asked  the  man  what  he  wanted.  We  told 
him  what  he  had  done.  At  first  he  denied,  and  then  tried 
to  bolt,  but  was  at  once  seized.  We  sent  for  Nga  Liema,  the 
chief.  Often,  when  we  complained  of  theft,  he  told  us  to 
catch  the  thief ; this  time  we  had  done  so.  We  asked  him 
what  we  ought  to  do  if  one  of  our  boys  broke  into  his  house 
and  robbed  him.  ‘ Punish  him  soundly,  of  course.’  And 
what  would  he  do  if  we  caught  one  of  his  people  red-handed  ? 

‘ Punish  him.’  We  told  him  how  we  had  caught  the  man. 
He  asked  us  what  he  ought  to  do.  We  told  him  to  do 
whatever  was  right ; we  should  then  know  what  to  do  with 
our  boys  if  they  robbed  him.  He  thought  that  the  man 
ought  to  be  beaten,  and  so  did  we.  He  gave  the  man  a sound 
thrashing  with  a thong  of  hippo  skin,  with  his  own  hands, 
and  we  called  our  Kru  boys,  and  solemnly  warned  them, 
before  Nga  Liema,  against  robbing  the  natives,  threatening 
to  deal  as  justly  as  Nga  Liema  had  done.  He  spoke  likewise 
to  his  own  folk. 

We  often  went  to  the  town,  and  found  some  of  the  people 
very  friendly  and  agreeable  in  their  behaviour ; even  Njuele, 
when  he  had  forgotten  his  rude  little  ways,  would  get 
interested  in  our  talk,  and  be  quite  pleasant.  We  tried  very 
hard  to  get  some  of  the  boys  of  the  town  to  come  to  school, 
and  live  on  the  station  ; there  were  some  fine  little  fellows. 
We  did  not  succeed  in  getting  them,  for  Nga  Liema  had 
made  up  his  mind  not  to  let  any  of  them  come  to  us  ; 
although  some  would  have  liked  to  have  done  so,  they  did 
not  dare. 

We  tried  to  learn  the  Kiteke  language,  but  the  bo}  s were 
told  not  to  teach  us,  and  were  afraid  to  be  seen  doing  so. 
After  a while  I managed  to  get  a smart  little  fellow  to  come 
pretty  regularly  ; by  his  help,  and  afterwards  from  a man,  a 
good  number  of  words  were  taken  down,  and  some  idea  of 
the  grammar  was  gained.  During  the  nine  and  a half  months 
that  I was  at  the  Pool  I took  down  some  2,000  words  of 
Kiteke.  Its  affinity  with  Kongo  is  very  pronounced,  but  the 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 1883 


17 


differences  are  very  great.  Kiteke  is  to  Kongo  what  French 
is  to  English.  There  is  a strong  tendency  to  contraction  of 
words,  and  nasalization,  Lamba,  to  cook,  in  Kongo  becomes 
lama  on  the  hills  above  the  Pool,  and  in  Kiteke,  la  (pro- 
nounced as  Ian  would  be  in  French).  So  the  Kongo  tata, 
father,  becomes  tara  in  Kiteke ; mtmtu,  a person,  becomes 
mbtiru ; itkento,  a woman,  becomes  mokif\  ieka,  to  buy, 
becomes  tio.  As  a result  of  the  contraction  and  nasalization, 
very  many  words  are  monosyllabic.  Many  of  the  mono- 
syllables are  identical  in  form,  and  can  only  be  distinguished 
by  the  use  of  tones,  as  in  all  such  languages  ; Chinese  being 
the  chief  example. 

There  were  always  a number  of  the  Bobangi  at  Stanley 
Pool,  who  had 
come  down  to 
trade.  The 
Congos  called 
them  Bayansi. 

Some  had  built 
compounds  on 
the  shore  be- 
s i d e K i n- 
tambu,  and  we 
used  to  visit 
them.  They 
were  very  dif- 
ferent from  the 
Bateke,  as  wild 

as  they ; but  as  they  were  away  from  home,  and  few  in  number, 
their  wildness  was  not  very  apparent.  Their  hair  was  always 
elaborately  plaited;  their  clothing  was  the  native  grass  cloth, 
scanty,  but  neat.  They  carried  about  great  spears,  and  knives 
of  clever  workmanship.  They  pulled  out  their  eyelashes  and 
eyebrows,  and  that  gave  them  a singular  appearance.  Some 
allowed  their  whiskers  to  grow,  and  plaited  them  ; others  had 
them  pulled  out.  The  Bateke  imitated  them  in  the  eradication 
of  hairs  on  the  face,  and  a man  might  often  be  found  lying  on 
a mat,  with  his  head  on  his  wife’s  lap,  as  she  pulled  out  these 


A CONGO  STOOL 


i8 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


hairs  one  by  one.  These  operations,  the  plaiting  and  dressing 
of  the  hair,  anointing  the  body  with  oil  and  powdered  cam- 
wood, and  such  details  of  toilette  took  up  a great  part  of 
a man’s  waking  hours.  The  women  were  as  careful  as  the 
men  in  all  this.  The  Bayansi  make  seats  of  a crescent  shape, 
with  four  legs,  all  cut  out  of  the  solid  ; they  love  to  cover 
them  with  brass  nails.  Some  had  round  seats  ; a round  disc, 
twelve  inches  in  diameter,  for  the  seat,  another  for  the  foot, 
and  a hollow  stem  between,  six  inches  in  diameter,  made  of  the 
skin  of  the  frond-stem  of  a palm  ; very  neat  things,  cleverly 
made. 

Children  of  the  Bayansi  are  seldom  seen  at  Stanley  Pool ; 
they  are  rare  in  their  own  towns  up  river,  still  more  so  at  the 
Pool.  I question  whether  we  saw  more  than  three  or  four 
there.  One  little  girl  of  eight,  named  Munjeke  (the  laugher), 
used  to  come  to  see  us  sometimes  ; such  a bright  little  lassie, 
we  were  very  fond  of  her.  We  tried  very  hard  to  take  down 
some  of  their  language,  but  they  followed  the  policy  of  Nga 
Liema,  and  for  some  reason  or  other  they  objected  to  teach 
us.  After  a while  another  party  of  Bayansi  came  down,  and 
with  them  two  Zombo  boys  who  had  been  bought  by  them 
as  slaves,  and  had  become  like  their  masters  in  style  and 
language.  From  these  boys  we  learned  many  words.  I had 
a vocabulary  of  about  700  words  in  October,  1883.  Dr.  Sims, 
of  Stanley  Pool  (L.I.M.  and  A.B.M.U.),  published  vocabularies 
in  Kiteke  and  Kiyansi  in  1888,  and  the  Gospel  of  John  in 
Kiteke.  John  Whitehead,  of  our  own  mission,  has  just  com- 
pleted a dictionary  of  Lo-Bobangi,  as  the  Kiyansi  should 
be  called.  There  is  quite  a literature  in  the  language 
growing  now. 

Although  we  could  get  no  boys  to  teach  from  Nga  Liema’s 
town,  the  people  on  the  hills  sent  us  a few  boys.  Ngambe- 
lenge,  the  second  chief,  sent  his  son,  Bungudi,  who  in  the  end 
became  an  able  engineer  on  the  Peace. 

We  paid  a visit  to  our  quondam  enemies  at  Kinshasa,  and 
old  Nchulu  became  our  friend.  He  sent  a bright  little  son  of 
his  to  us,  and  several  other  boys.  A chief  living  one  hour 
distant  behind  the  station  sent  us  his  son  Kolokolo,  a fine 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


19 


little  fellow.  He  stayed  with  us  for  a few  months.  Years 
after  he  became  a receiver  of  stolen  guns,  and  died  in  a penal 
settlement  of  the  State  in  1896.  So,  in  spite  of  the  oppo- 
sition, a school  was  formed.  The  scholars  came  and  went ; 
very  few  of  the  first  comers  stayed  long  enough  to  get  much 
good.  Poor  Kolokolo  is  a sorry  example  of  that ; but  several 
of  them  were  very  promising  boys. 

Beyond  Nchulu’s  town,  some  distance  along  the  shore  of 
the  Pool  was  Ndolo,  the  town  of  Bankua,  the  nephew  and 
heir  of  Nchulu ; he  was  a very  hard,  cruel  man,  who  shed 
blood  very  freely.  His  people  were  very  wild  ; indeed,  the 
first  time  that  Comber  and  I ventured  into  his  town  we 
wondered  whether  we  should  ever  go  out  again.  We  met 
him  at  Nchulu’s,  and  went  at  his  invitation,  we  by  boat  and 
he  by  land ; one  of  his  men  went  with  us,  but  his  rowdies 
behaved  very  badly  until  he  came.  He  became  fairly  friendly 
to  us,  but  gave  us  no  boys  in  the  early  years.  He  it  was  who 
worked  up  the  bad  reception  when  we  first  went  to  Kinshasa 
in  1881.  Ndolo  is  now  the  terminus  of  the  Congo  Railway, 
and  Nga  Liema,  Nchulu,  and  Bankua  are  living  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  on  French  soil.  They  were  all  hard,  un- 
progressive savages,  who  in  no  way  yielded  to  the  new 
influences,  or  adapted  themselves  to  the  new  circumstances. 

Nga  Liema,  and  indeed  the  Pool  people  generally,  were,  by 
their  ivory  trade,  surfeited  with  fine  cloth.  So  rich  were  they 
that  they  were  able  to  keep  their  wives  in  laziness ; scarcely 
any  ground  was  cultivated ; they  produced  nothing.  They 
were  such  arrant  thieves  that  most  of  the  women  of  the  hills 
were  afraid  to  come  down  to  their  market ; the  men  bought 
the  kwanga  (cassava  puddings)  of  their  women,  and  brought 
them  down  to  the  market,  taking  back  the  proceeds,  part 
in  dried  fish  and  part  in  brass  rods.  There  never  was  a 
sufficient  supply  for  the  demand,  and  the  Bateke  had  to  attend 
the  markets  on  the  hills  to  meet  their  needs.  There  was 
always  more  or  less  of  hunger  in  the  town.  Such  people 
were  no  help  to  Stanley  in  the  way  of  supplying  food  for  his 
men  ; both  he  and  we  had  to  send  to  the  hills,  fifteen  miles 
away.  We  had  to  keep  food  buyers  on  the  spot,  for  they 


20 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


were  obliged  by  local  custom  to  pay  for  their  food  before  it 
was  prepared.  A woman  would  receive  lOo  brass  rods,  and 
then  go  to  her  farm  to  fetch  the  manioc  roots,  soak  and  dry 
them,  and  then  pound,  sift,  and  cook  the  puddings.  The 
food-buyer  had  to  keep  his  eyes  open,  lest  a'Teke  or  a 
Zanzibari  should  go  and  bluster,  and  induce  the  woman  to 
sell  to  him.  He  told  us  from  time  to  time  to  send  up  two 
or  three  men  on  a certain  day,  and  so  our  bread  stuff  was 
obtained.  Now  and  then  the  men  did  not  return,  through 
some  hitch,  and  there  was  no  food  for  the  others,  so  they  had 
to  go  to  bed  hungry.  That  did  not  often  happen,  but  it  was 
not  a rare  thing  for  the  evening  meal  to  arrive  as  late  as 
lo  o’clock  at  night.  We  had  thus  to  live  from  hand  to 
mouth,  for  the  food  could  not  be  kept  much  more  than  a 
week.  We  kept  the  surplus  when  possible,  but  often  there 
was  no  surplus  to  keep.  ‘Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,' 
was  an  earnest  prayer  with  us.  We  had  to  keep  about 
twenty  men,  for  there  was  much  building  work  to  do— a 
house  for  ourselves,  another  for  Grenfell,  houses  for  work- 
people, stores  for  food  and  tools,  mission  goods,  steamer 
stores,  &c.  With  the  workmen,  and  the  few  school-boys 
which  we  could  keep,  we  found  it  hard  to  keep  up  the  supply. 

The  natives  were  very  anxious  to  get  a long  light-blue  bead 
which  had  taken  their  fancy.  We  refused  at  first  to  get 
any  out,  fearing  a change  of  fashion  in  the  interim.  The 
beads  of  the  currency  down  country  were  made  of  a hexagonal 
blue  pipe  bead,  broken  up  into  lengths  of  a quarter  of  an  inch. 
The  idea  struck  us  to  order  out  some  longer  beads  of  that 
kind,  of  three,  two,  and  one  inches. 

Nga  Liema  had  been  very  sullen  towards  the  white  men ; 
he  did  not  come  to  visit  us  for  three  months.  ‘ If  they  want  to 
see  me,  let  them  come  to  me  here  ; why  should  I go  to  them  ?’ 
So  he  said,  and  he  maintained  that  ‘dignified’  position  ; no 
one  was  much  the  loser  by  the  absence  of  his  begging  majesty, 
but  he  flattered  himself  that  he  was  doing  a great  thing. 
We  often  visited  his  town,  and  were  at  no  pains  to  avoid 
him,  so  we  saw  him  frequently,  when  we  went  to  visit  his 
people. 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1SS3 


21 


After  about  six  months  the  beads  arrived.  They  were 
so  light — 2 or  3 lb.  only — that  they  came  up  with  our  mails. 
We  announced  their  arrival  on  a Saturday,  with  a promise 
to  sell  on  Monday.  The  people  were  delighted  with  them  ; 
we  sold  them  at  a rod  an  inch — three  rods  for  the  three  inches, 
and  so  on.  There  was  a rush  for  them.  Nga  Liema,  who 
had  sulked  in  his  town  for  three  months,  rushed  up  and  down 
the  hill,  coming  to  us  breathless,  and  reeking  with  perspira- 
tion ; he  could  not  even  trust  others  to  buy  for  him,  lest 
he  should  be  cheated  by  his  slaves.  I do  not  know  how 
many  visits  he  paid  us  that  and  the  next  day ; he  forgot 
his  sulks,  dignity,  and  everything,  to  get  those  precious  beads. 
He  wanted  us  to  let  him  have  a lot  on  credit,  but  we  laughed 
at  him.  We  allowed  him  to  mortgage  his  ‘ royal  sceptre  ’ — 
an  elephant's  tail — and  his  beautiful  copper,  brass,  and  iron 
anklets  for  200  rods,  and  would  have  been  glad  to  foreclose, 
but  he  soon  paid  the  debt. 

In  two  days  all  the  longer  beads  were  sold,  and  in  two 
more  the  last  of  the  short  beads  went.  The  beads  cost  2s.  gd. 
and  weighed  2 or  3 lb. ; they  realized  a quarter  of  a ton  of 
brass  wire,  which  would  have  cost  ;^i6  lo^.  in  England,  more 
than  eight  carriers’  loads,  and  all  bought  and  delivered  at 
Stanley  Pool  for  2s.  gd. ; we  were  sorry  that  we  had  not 
ordered  more  of  them.  We  reordered,  but  when  they  arrived 
out  the  fashion  had  changed. 

Our  cloth  was  beautifully  packed  in  waterproof  bales, 
hydraulic  pressed,  with  riveted  iron  hoops,  so  tight  that 
a piece  could  seldom  be  drawn  out.  If  one  or  two  were 
abstracted,  the  consequent  looseness  and  lightness  of  the 
bale  would  call  attention  to  the  theft,  if  the  sewing  up  would 
pass  muster.  We  nearly  always  detected  a theft,  and  laughed 
at  the  thief  for  even  dreaming  that  he  would  not  be  found 
out.  It  was  no  laughing  matter  for  the  thief,  however,  for 
we  at  once  stopped  the  pay  of  the  whole  caravan,  on  the 
ground  that  all  the  goods  had  not  arrived.  His  fellow 
carriers  would  be  furious  with  the  thief,  and  he  would  have 
to  go  to  fetch  what  he  had  stolen.  He  would  have  to  bring, 
besides,  a goat,  or  perhaps  two,  ‘ to  quiet  our  hearts.’  The 


22 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


head-man  would  come  back  with  him  to  receive  the  pay  of  his 
men,  with  some  strong  admonitions  to  be  more  careful  of  our 
goods,  and  not  allow  such  foolish  attempts  at  stealing.  It 
was  a great  thing  to  be  able  to  get  our  goods  transported 
without  theft,  without,  indeed,  offering  any  temptation  to  the 
wild  men  who  carried  them.  We  transported  for  years  with- 
out any  loss.  Not  a thing  of  all  the  steamer  loads  was 
missing  after  transport  for  225  miles  on  men’s  heads. 

We  lost  two  cases  of  the  steamer  loads  for  a while ; for  two 
carriers,  who  lived  two  hours  from  Bayneston,  stole  their 
loads  and  took  them  to  their  town.  The  head-man  was  sent 
to  bring  them  in  ; but  the  townsfolk  told  him  to  tell  us  to 
come  and  fetch  them  ourselves ; and  to  be  sure  to  bring  our 
guns  with  us,  for  they  would  fire  upon  us  if  we  ventured  to 
come  near  them.  They  strongly  advised  the  head-man  not 
to  trouble  them  any  further.  It  was  easy  to  bluff  us  in  this 
way,  but  when  the  head-man  had  gone  away,  some  of  the 
women  asked  what  they  were  to  do  if  we  came.  Some  felt 
sure  that  we  should  appear  in  force  at  dawn  the  next 
morning,  and  burn  the  town. 

They  passed  a wretched  night,  and  before  dawn  the  women 
went  to  hide  in  the  woods.  They  listened  all  day,  and  heard 
nothing.  At  night  they  dared  not  sleep  in  the  town,  fearing 
a night  attack — the  thing  of  which  an  African  has  the  greatest 
horror.  The  days  passed  in  sickening  fear,  which  com- 
municated itself  to  the  thieves  and  rowdies.  Then  they 
considered  that  our  delay  in  coming  was  to  make  them  think 
that  we  were  not  coming  at  all,  and  then  some  day,  when  it 
was  nearly  forgotten,  we  would  raid  them,  and  make  them  all 
slaves  for  those  two  wretched  boxes.  They  slept  in  the 
woods  at  night,  and  in  the  daytime  took  shelter  in  their 
houses ; but  if  the  leaves  rustled,  or  if  a hawk  frightened  the 
fowls,  they  would  rush  out,  believing  that  the  white  men  had 
come.  The  rainy  season  came,  and  wet  nights  in  the  woods 
were  trying  to  all,  especially  to  the  children. 

Three  months  passed,  and  they  sent  to  the  head-man 
imploring  him  to  fetch  the  boxes  away.  When  he  brought 
them  in,  he  told  us  of  the  agonies  of  suspense  which  the  towns- 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  18S3 


23 


folk  had  endured.  It  had  a good  effect  on  the  district.  We 
had  not  cared  to  do  anything  in  the  matter ; fighting  was 
not  our  duty,  and  only  that  would  have  availed,  until  fear  did 
the  work  instead.  Hughes  advised  Grenfell  of  the  loss,  and 
duplicate  parts  were  ordered.  It  was  but  a simple  matter. 
That  was  the  only  real  hitch. 

The  steam  separator  weighed  250  lb.  ; it  might  have  been 
jointed  up,  but  it  was  considered  that  one  small  compact 
load  could  be  managed.  A small  trolly  was  made  for  it. 
The  load  was  put  in  charge  of  eight  men.  They  made  their 
way  with  difficulty,  being  much  impeded  by  the  long  grass, 
the  stems  of  which  were  often  as  thick  as  one’s  thumb.  They 
thought  to  remove  this  difficulty  by  burning  the  grass.  This 
greatly  annoyed  the  chief  of  an  important  town  on  the  way ; 
he  seized  the  load,  and  sent'  the  men  away  with  an  empty 
truck.  They  waited  outside  the  town  until  midnight ; then 
they  sent  two  of  their  strongest  men,  who  crept  quietly  into 
the  town  and  carried  away  their  load,  which  had  been  left  by 
the  chief  in  an  open  shed.  When  the  day  broke  they  were 
far  on  the  way  with  their  load,  and  took  it  safely  up  country. 

On  February  13,  Mr.  Clark,  of  the  Livingstone  Mission, 
arrived  at  Leopoldville,  wishing  to  make  arrangements  for  a 
station  there  for  his  mission.  When  he  learned  the  difficulty- 
in  getting  food,  he  considered  that,  for  a time  at  least,  it  would 
be  better  to  build  on  the  hills,  until  they  were  ready  to 
construct  their  steamer.  He  returned  to  make  arrangements 
to  do  so.  A few  days  before  Mr.  (now  Sir  Harry)  Johnston 
arrived ; he  held  a commission  from  the  Graphic.  After 
staying  a while  at  Leopoldville,  he  went  for  a few  weeks 
to  Mswata  and  Bolobo,  the  two  stations  on  the  upper  river 
belonging  to  the  International  Association,  or  rather  the 
Comite  d’Etudes  du  Haut  Congo,  for  that  was  the  name 
under  which  the  forward  work  was  being  carried  out.  The 
international  character  of  the  French  section  had  quite 
disappeared,  and  the  operations  of  the  Comite  which  cul- 
minated in  the  foundation  of  the  Congo  Free  State,  were 
necessary  to  prevent  France  from  absorbing  the  results 
of  Belgian  enterprise.  The  change  of  name  was  important ► 


(Our  first  station  at  Stanley  Pool  was  on  the  north  side  of  Leopoldville.  Kintamo  is  another  style  for  Kintambu. 

The  great  island  in  the  centre  is  Bamu.) 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


25 


Hartland  had  not  been  really  well  for  some  time ; he  had 
had  a number  of  little  fevers  which  weakened  him.  He  took 
boat  to  Bayneston,  and  on  arriving  on  April  21  he  had  an 
attack  of  dysentery.  Hughes  was  in  charge  of  the  station, 
but  Hartland’s  condition  was  so  serious,  and  the  nursing  so 
heavy,  that  Hughes  wrote  to  Butcher  for  help.  Butcher  sent 
the  letter  on  to  Grenfell,  and  although  in  a fever  himself, 
he  started  at  once  for  Bayneston.  Grenfell  left  Underhill  to 
go  up  country  on  April  27.  On  the  second  day  out  he  met 
Butcher’s  letter,  and  hurried  on. 

On  May  10  the  case  became  hopeless,  and  Grenfell  broke 
it  to  Hartland  as  gently  as  possible.  He  said,  ‘ Well,  I am 
not  afraid  to  die.  My  trust  is  in  Jesus.  Whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  hath  everlasting  life.’  A little  later  he  added,  ‘ After 
four  years’  preparation,  and  just  as  I am  going  to  enter  upon 
mission  work  proper,  it  seems  strange  for  me  to  realize  that 
my  work  is  done  ; but  He  knows  best.’  Comber’s  arrival 
that  evening  was  a great  comfort  to  him  ; all  had  believed 
that  he  was  at  Stanley  Pool,  but  a gracious  Providence  had 
arranged  that  he  should  be  down  in  time  for  the  parting.  He 
had  been  his  close  friend  for  eight  years,  and  associated  with 
him  for  four  years  in  the  work  on  the  Congo. 

During  the  two  following  days  they  enjoyed  much  brotherly 
cheering  conversation.  Hartland  was  happy  and  peaceful, 
thoroughly  resigned  to  the  Divine  will.  They  talked  of  their 
work  together  in  London  in  connexion  with  Camden  Road 
Chapel  in  the  old  times,  and  of  what  they  had  done  together 
on  the  Congo  ; then  again  Hartland  would  speak  of  his  own 
assurance  of  faith,  and  of  the  blessedness  which  was  now  so 
near.  At  sundown,  on  May  12,  1883,  he  was  sinking  fast  ; 
half  an  hour  later,  he  cried  out,  ‘ Christ  is  all  and  in  all.  Let 
me  go,  my  friends.  Don’t  hold  me  back.  I must  go.  I want 
to  go  to  Him.  Simply  to  Thy  cross  I cling.  Let  me  go  ! ’ 
His  struggles  ceased  ; he  was  gone. 

A week  or  two  before  he  started  for  the  Congo,  he  wrote, 
‘ In  this  enterprise  of  winning  Africa  for  Christ,  there  must 
be,  I know,  much  of  what  the  world  calls  loss  and  sacrifice, 
and  it  may  be  that  many  will  fall  in  the  blessed  work  of 

VOL.  II.  C 


26 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


foundation  building  only;  but  what  of  this?  To  have  any 
share  in  this  noblest  of  all  toil,  however  humble  or  obscure, 
be  it  only  hewing  wood  or  drawing  water,  is  surely  honour 
and  privilege  any  servant  of  Christ  must  court  and  long  for. 
I desire  to  go  to  this  work,  feeling  yet  more  intensely  day 
by  day,  as  the  days  pass  on,  that  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die, 
gain  ; and  if  He  should  ordain  for  me  early  death,  after  a few 
years  of  humble,  obscure,  pioneering  work  only — well,  it  must 
all  be  right ; for  it  means  early  and  complete  satisfaction.’ 

Such  was  his  thought  as  he  started  for  the  Congo,  and 
such  his  spirit  as  he  lived  there.  He  was  ready  for  all  that 
came  to  him,  and  threw  himself  heartily  into  the  work,  in 
no  way  sparing  himself.  He  was  very  handy,  and  in  all 
practical  matters  so  singularly  well  informed,  that  we  often 
called  him  our  encyclopaedia.  He  had  a good  knowledge 
of  the  language,  and  his  genial  manner  won  a way  to  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  It  was  a sore  blow  to  us  all  to  lose 
him.  His  experience,  gained  in  four  years  of  travel  and 
pioneer  work,  was  very  valuable,  and  just  as  he  was  settling 
down  to  steady  missionary  work,  he  was  cut  off. 

In  consultation  with  his  colleagues  met  at  Bayneston, 
Comber  decided  to  make  an  effort  to  open  the  road  from  that 
place  to  Manyanga  overland,  and  to  start  a transport  by  it. 
Loads  had  been  accumulating  at  Underhill  and  Bayneston. 
More  came  than  the  boat  could  carry,  and  now  there  was  the 
steamer  to  transport  as  well.  He  wrote  to  the  chief  agent 
of  the  Dutch  House,  asking  him  to  engage  for  us,  if  possible, 
a ship’s  mate,  or  some  sailor  of  the  better  class,  to  take  charge 
of  the  boat  work  between  Isangila  and  Manyanga.  This  he 
was  able  to  do  ; he  found  for  us  a man  who  was  very  useful ; 
his  help  lightened  very  considerably  the  burden  of  Manyanga. 
Comber  then  took  the  boat  up  river,  and  engaged  thirty 
native  carriers,  chiefly  from  Ndunga,  the  town  which  a year 
before  had  barred  the  way  to  the  Livingstone  Mission.  He 
look  these  men  with  him  overland  to  Bayneston,  made  arrange- 
ments for  the  ferry  over  the  Kwilu  river,  and  effectively 
opened  the  road  for  our  transport. 

Having  thus  arranged  things  up  country.  Comber  passed 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 18S3 


27 


on  to  Underhill,  where  Dixon  of  San  Salvador  was  temporarily 
in  charge,  waiting  for  Grenfell’s  return.  He  continued  his 
way  to  San  Salvador.  He  found  the  work  there  in  a most 
encouraging  condition.  There  was  a school  of  forty  boys, 
twenty  of  them  being  boarders.  The  Sunday  services  had  an 
average  attendance  of  seventy  to  eighty  adults,  beside  sixty 
children. 

The  work  at  San  Salvador  had  not  been  all  plain  sailing, 
however ; the  padres  had  tried  hard  to  induce  the  king  to 
send  our  mission  away.  Their  arguments  did  not  go  very 
far,  so  they  tried  what  threats  would  do.  They  threatened 
that  if  the  king  would  not  send  the  English  missionaries  away, 
they  would  call  soldiers  from  Loanda.  Their  reasons  for 
urging  this  were  : first,  that  we  had  not  God’s  ‘ palaver,’  and 
therefore  could  not  teach  it.  Next,  we  did  not  love  the 
Congo  people,  and  to  evidence  that  they  pointed  out  what 
a fine  house  they  (the  padres)  had  built  for  themselves,  while 
we  had  not ! Thirdly,  we  were  bad,  lazy  men,  doing  nothing 
all  day  but  eat,  drink,  and  sleep.  It  is  hard  to  understand 
why  they  talked  such  rubbish  to  the  natives  ; they  did  them- 
selves more  harm  than  to  us,  for  the  natives  knew  what  our 
men  were  like,  and  how  they  lived.  The  king  told  them  very 
straightly  one  day  that  we  were  not  bad  men,  and  that  we 
did  love  the  Congo  people,  for  we  gave  them  medicine,  and 
many  were  healed  of  their  sores  and  sicknesses  ; he  also  felt 
sure  that  we  had  God’s  palaver.  They  were  jealous  too  of  our 
large  school,  and  asked  the  king  to  tell  all  the  boys  to  leave 
the  English  school,  and  to  go  to  theirs.  The  king  refused. 

One  Sunday  in  1882,  the  padres  sent  a boy,  just  as  the 
people  had  gathered  at  the  seiwice,  to  tell  them  to  come 
away,  and  go  to  the  padres’  church.  On  another  occasion 
they  inquired  why  the  king  went  to  our  service  sometimes. 
He  told  them  not  to  dictate  to  him  in  such  a matter.  They 
then  asked  him  to  attend  our  seiwices  himself,  and  to  send 
all  the  people  to  them.  The  king  replied  that  he  and  his 
people  would  please  themselves  as  to  the  service  which  .they 
would  attend.  The  king  was  told  that  the  Governor  of 
Loanda  had  given  orders  that  we  were  to  leave  San  Salvador  ; 

C 2 


2.8 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


but  when  pressed  the  padres  said  that  it  was  the  bishop, 
not  the  governor,  who  had  sent  the  order.  A little  later 
our  friend  Dorn  Miguel,  the  blacksmith,  told  Weeks  that 
the  padres  had  been  again  to  the  king,  to  ask  him  to  turn 
our  mission  out,  threatening  that  if  he  did  not  do  so,  soldiers 
would  come  from  Loanda.  The  king  decided  to  discuss 
the  matter  seriously  with  Weeks  and  Dixon  the  next  day. 
The  expected  visit  did  not  come  off,  for  the  padres  were 
afraid  that  if  things  were  pushed  too  far,  one  of  our  mis- 
sionaries would  go  to  Loanda,  and  complain  to  our  consul. 
They  induced  the  king  to  let  the  matter  drop. 

It  was  very  unfortunate  that  such  rivalries  should  have 
been  created,  but  it  would  never  have  done  for  us  to  retire 
when  the  padres  came  ; such  a policy  would  have  brought 
upon  us  like  treatment  elsewhere.  We  were  obliged  to  hold 
out  at  all  costs.  Happily,  there  has  been  no  such  trouble 
at  any  other  of  our  stations.  We  have  abstained  from  all 
attacks  at  San  Salvador,  and  have  lived  it  down  to  a large 
extent. 

In  spite  of  these  difficulties  worked  up  by  the  Romish 
Mission,  there  was  much  to  encourage.  The  king  was  as 
hearty  as  ever  ; and  the  thing  that  most  pleased  Comber, 
was  the  fact  that  the  best  of  the  people  were  on  our  side,  not 
passively,  but  with  much  esprit  and  earnestness  ; not  one  had 
swerved,  those  who  had  strongly  supported  us  from  the  first 
were  still  our  staunch  friends.  Weeks,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  station,  had  endeared  himself  to  the  people,  especially  to 
the  boys  ; Dixon  was  expected  back  in  a week  or  two.  Some 
half-dozen  of  the  people  were  certainly  interested  in  spiritual 
things,  and  were  under  special  instruction  as  inquirers. 
There  had  also  been  some  intere.sting  itineration  in  the 
district  round.  Comber’s  spirit  was  much  refreshed,  and  he 
started  back  on  the  long  journey  to  Stanley  Pool,  full  of  hope 
and  encouragement.  He  reached  the  Pool  on  July  27,  having 
been  absent  three  months.  With  him  came  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Grenfell. 

While  Comber  was  away,  I was  busy  building  a house  for 
Grenfell ; it  was  just  like  that  in  which  Comber  and  I were 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 1SS3 


29 


living.  There  were  three  rooms  in  each,  13  ft.  by  20  ft.,  with 
a porch  in  front,  12  ft.  by  12  ft.  The  walls  and  the  roofs  were 
of  grass.  There  was  a verandah  five  feet  wide  round  each 
house.  The  view  from  the  houses  was  very  fine.  To  the  left 
of  us  thundered  the  first  falls  of  the  river  as  it  swept  into  its 
gorge.  It  was  there  a mile  in  width.  To  the  right  was  a 
great  bay.  Stanley  Pool  proper  was  three  miles  distant ; its 
exit  was  two  miles  wide.  Seven  square  miles  of  water  lay 
open  before  us  ; beyond  was  the  Pool,  but  so  foreshortened  by 
the  distance  that  but  little  of  its  water  was  seen — it  appeared 
rather  as  a waste  of  islands.  The  Pool  is  14  by  18  miles  ; the 
gorge  through  which  the  upper  river  flowed  into  it  was  twenty- 
one  miles  distant,  we  could  see  some  miles  up  it  in  clear 
weather.  There  is  a low  shore  of  flats  round  the  Pool,  which 
are  very  swampy  on  the  eastern  shore.  The  main  level  of  the 
plateau  round  the  Pool  is  i,coo  feet  above  the  water,  and 
2,000  feet  above  the  sea  level.  The  soil  of  the  plateau 
is  a fine  white  sand.  The  hill  lands  above  and  beside  the 
Pool  are  so  destitute  of  water,  that  many  parts  are  not 
inhabited.  The  rain  soaks  down  in  the  sand  for  a thousand 
feet  to  the  rock,  and  no  water  is  to  be  had.  Far  away  to  the 
right  is  seen  the  gleaming  side  of  the  Mense  Peak,  so  named 
after  a good  German  doctor,  who  lived  at  the  Pool  in  1887. 
It  is  a hill  of  silver  sand,  and  the  flank  towards  Leopoldville 
is  a great  precipice,  gleaming  white  out  of  the  dark  forest 
which  elsewhere  crowns  the  hill. 

Grenfell  only  stayed  two  clear  days  at  Arthington  ; having 
seen  his  wife  safe  in  her  new  home,  he  returned  down  country 
to  attend  to  the  transport  of  the  Peace.  The  first  parts  of  the 
steamer  reached  the  Pool  on  June  20.  As  she  was  a larger 
vessel  than  the  A.  I.  A.,  which  had  just  been  transported  in 
two  years,  we  fully  expected  that  the  Peace  would  take  as 
long  to  carry  up.  Every  one  else  at  the  Pool  heard  of  the 
arrival  of  the  first  pieces  with  complete  indifference  ; but  great 
was  their  surprise  to  learn,  four  months  later,  that  all  the 
steamer,  her  stores,  duplicate  parts,  fittings,  paint,  and  oil  were 
safe  at  the  Pool,  not  a single  load  missing. 

When  the  small  boat  which  was  to  accompany  the  Peace 


3° 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


reached  the  Pool,  we  put  her  together.  She  was  built  in 
sections,  each  of  which  could  be  easily  carried  by  two  men. 
A strip  of  india-rubber  came  between  each  section  to  prevent 
leakage,  and  all  that  was  necessary  for  her  reconstruction 
was  to  fasten  the  sections  together  with  bolts  and  nuts.  We 
celebrated  the  occasion  by  a trip  round  Stanley  Pool.  Comber 
and  I .started  with  Dr.  Sims  on  September  i 8 to  circumnavi- 
gate. The  boat  was  twenty-seven  feet  long,  and  was  pulled  by 
five  oars  ; she  also  carried  a sail.  We  made  our  way  first  to 
Kinshasa,  and  visited  the  post  which  Stanley  had  established 
there.  The  news  had  just  come  that  the  French  had  arrived 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  that  they  were  having 
trouble  with  Bwabwa  Njali,  the  chief  who  had  been  so  kind 
to  us  on  the  first  journey.  A few  days  later  the  report  came 
that  they  were  driven  away.  We  sailed  across  in  the  morn- 
ing to  the  north  bank,  but  kept  clear  of  the  Mfwa  towns,  not 
knowing  what  the  state  of  mind  of  the  people  might  be,  since 
the  arrival  of  the  French.  We  sailed  quietly  over  the  watery 
wastes,  among  low  sand  islands,  some  of  which  were  more  or 
less  covered  with  grass.  In  some  places  dead  trees  had 
drifted  down,  and  lay  stranded  and  half  buried  in  the  sand  ; 
only  their  roots  were  sticking  up  out  of  the  water ; in  other 
places  logs  and  lumps  of  wood  lay  fixed.  As  we  thus  sailed, 
we  noticed  a log  which  was  apparently  stranded  where  there 
was  a strong  current ; a moment  later  we  realized  that  it  was 
rushing  toward  us;  but  it  was  no  log,  it  was  a huge  crocodile 
coming  to  attack  us.  Comber  seized  a Martini  rifle  which 
lay  handy,  and  waited  until  it  had  come  to  within  a few  yards 
of  the  boat ; then  he  fired,  and  the  ugly  head  disappeared. 
The  reptile  had  mistaken  our  white-sailed  boat  for  a great 
bird,  so  he  came  to  take  it.  A blow  from  the  huge  creature 
might  well  have  wrecked  our  boat,  and  given  him  a meal, 
but  for  the  timely  shot.  Stanley  told  us  how  in  the  early 
days,  near  Kilolo,  a great  crocodile  mistook  the  flapping 
paddles  of  his  steamer  for  an  animal  swimming,  and  rushed 
to  seize  them  ; a timely  bullet  saved  the  disablement  of  the 
wheel.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  on  the  Upper  Nile  tells  a like 
story. 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


31 


Next  morning  we  turned  out  at  dawn,  and  so  did  a hippo- 
potamus ; he  came  slowly  across  a sandy  waste  on  the  opposite 
side  of  our  channel  200  yards  away.  It  was  too  far  off  to  hope 
to  kill  him,  but  mischief  prompted  us  to  fire  a bullet  over 
his  head.  The  noise  of  the  gun  frightened  him ; he  looked 
at  us  and  the  tent,  and  started  off  at  a sharp  gallop  along 
the  shore  for  half  a mile,  galloping  just  like  a horse.  We 
started  again  on  our  journey,  and  made  for  the  Mpiete  head- 
land, the  mainland,  which  we  were  unable  to  reach  the 
previous  day.  When  Stanley  came  down  the  Congo  the  first 
time,  soon  after  entering  the  Pool,  he  saw  some  white  cliffs 
gleaming  away  on  his  right.  They  looked  like  the  chalk 
cliffs  of  Dover,  so  he  named  them  Dover  Cliffs.  A little 
beyond  Mpiete  we  came  up  to  them.  They  were  about 
1 50-200  ft.  high  ; we  had  often  seen  them  from  Leopoldville; 
we  found  them  to  be  composed  of  silver  sand,  and  almost 
perpendicular.  We  turned  the  bow  of  the  boat  to  the  base 
of  the  cliff,  and  I leaped  out  on  the  foreshore ; it  appeared 
to  be  hard  sand,  but  I sank  in  an  instant  up  to  my  waist, 
and  should  soon  have  been  up  to  my  armpits  in  a sandy 
pipe-clay  mud.  It  broke  away,  and  left  me  free  in  the  water 
to  scramble  into  the  boat.  Feeling  with  our  oars,  we  found 
that  the  cliffs  were  deeply  undermined  by  the  moderately 
brisk  current,  and  we  were  glad  to  back  out  quickly,  lest  an 
avalanche  of  sand  should  descend  upon  us.  The  cliffs  were 
very  beautiful  with  the  towers  and  buttresses  which  are 
characteristic  of  hard  sand  cliffs.  There  is  a cement  of  pipe- 
clay which  binds  the  sand. 

Beyond  the  cliffs  we  came  to  a valley  with  a flat  shore  ; 
there  were  many  hippo  tracks,  but  when  we  counted  the  toes 
of  some  larger  marks,  we  knew  that  elephants  came  there 
also  to  drink.  A little  further  on  we  had  to  make  our  way 
through  a herd  of  hippos,  which  were  taking  their  bath. 
Great  heads  appeared  in  all  directions  staring  at  us,  some 
unpleasantly  near ; we  expected  a hippo  to  rise  under  us  at 
any  moment.  We  held  our  rifles  ready  in  case  of  attack, 
but  had  no  inclination  to  act  on  the  offensive.  A baby  hippo 
cannot  bear  the  long  submergence  to  which  its  mother  is 


32 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


accustomed,  so  as  it  lies  on  its  mother’s  back  she  comes 
so  far  to  the  surface  as  to  allow  the  little  one  to  fill  its  lungs, 
and  goes  down  again  once  or  twice,  befoi'e  her  head  appears 
for  a breath.  Hippos  are  sometimes  seen  in  great  numbers; 


HIPPOPOTAMUS  LIFE 


Weeks  counted  io6  on  and  about  a sandbank  above  Bolobo 
in  1890. 

Presently  we  came  to  the  entrance  of  the  upper  river.  It 
was  two  miles  wide  ; on  either  side  were  lofty  hills,  while 
the  gorge  by  which  the  river  entered  was  flanked  by  hills 
800-1000  ft.  in  height.  We  looked  wistfully  up  the  river, 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 1SS3 


33 


wondering  what  would  be  the  history  of  our  mission  on  its 
upper  reaches  ; what  victories  would  be  won  for  Christ  among 
the  wild  cannibals  who  lined  its  banks. 

Skirting  the  head  of  Bamu  island,  thence  we  crossed  to 
Kimpoko  on  the  mainland,  which  three  years  later  became 
one  of  the  stations  of  Bishop  Taylor’s  Mission.  A little  later 
the  gathering  clouds  warned  us  of  a coming  storm  ; we  chose 
a favourable  spot,  and  camped.  We  had  time  to  take  our 
meal,  make  all  taut,  and  slacken  the  tent  rope.s,  and  then 
a wild  tornado  burst  upon  us.  We  were  safe  in  the  tent,  and. 
the  boys  slept  under  the  sail  and  awning,  so  no  one  was  the 
worse  for  it.  Next  day  we  picked  our  way  by  compass 
among  the  islands  toward  Ndolo  and  Kinshasa,  and  so 
reached  home  in  the  afternoon,  thus  accomplishing  the  first 
circumnavigation  of  Stanley  Pool  by  white  men.  The  great 
island  of  Bamu  is  covered  with  forest,  and  abounds  in  game ; 
there  are  many  buffaloes  and  elephants. 

The  French  priests  who  reached  Stanley  Pool  about  this 
time  built  at  a place  called  Linzolo,  some  twelve  miles  west 
of  Brazzaville.  They  belong  to  the  Congregation  du  Saint 
Esprit  et  du  Sacre  Cceur  de  Marie.  A few  months  previously 
Cardinal  Lavigerie  had  sent  the  Abbe  Guyot,  one  of  his 
‘ White  Fathers,’  to  prospect  for  mission  work  on  the  Congo. 
The  abbe  had  rendered  good  service  'to  his  Church,  having 
founded  one  or  two  missions  in  East  Africa,  and  had  just 
returned  from  an  exploration  between  Lake  Nyasa  and  the 
sea.  He  came  out  with  letters  from  Brussels  strongly  com- 
mending him  to  the  officers  of  the  Expedition.  He  went  to 
stay  at  Mswata,  loo  miles  above  Leopoldville,  and  after  a 
while  went  with  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  station  up  the 
Kasai  for  a few  days.  They  travelled  in  two  canoes,  lashed 
together  for  stability,  three  feet  apart.  On  the  way  back 
they  shot  a hippopotamus,  and  loaded  their  canoes  deeply 
with  the  meat.  Just  above  their  station  they  had  to  pass 
a point  upon  which  a strong  current  pitched.  The  night 
breeze  was  very  fresh,  and  knocked  up  some  choppy  waves 
on  the  swift  current.  When  the  heavy  canoes  entered  this 
water  they  filled  and  sank,  and  the  two  white  men  and  eleven 


34 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


natives  were  drowned.  Another  party  of  the  Algerian  Fathers 
came  out  later  on,  and  established  a mission  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Kwa  (Kasai),  but  when  the  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda mapped  out  the  Congo  district  among  the  Romish 
missionary  Congregations,  the  district  of  Tanganika  was 
allotted  to  the  Algerian  Fathers,  and  they  retired  from  the 
Upper  Congo.  The  Congo  Free  State  is  only  served  by 
Belgian  Congregations  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

We  bought  an  adjutant  stork  from  the  natives ; he  was 
nearly  four  feet  high,  and  walked  about  our  enclosures  without 
any  attempt  to  escape  ; one  of  his  wings  had  been  disabled, 
and  although  it  had  long  healed  the  bird  could  not  fly.  He 
was  very  tame,  and  a great  amusement  to  our  boys.  He  made 
a gobbling  noise,  which  the  boys  translated  into  vo  kisotokele, 
kidia  ko,  ‘ if  it  drops  I will  not  eat  it,’  and  they  declared  that 
his  food  might  never  touch  the  sandy  ground.  He  was  a great 
bird,  and  we  had  to  buy  flsh  for  him  every  day.  When  any 
of  our  animal  pets  died,  they  were  publicly  consumed  by 
Chickabiddy,  the  adjutant.  A baby  monkey  died,  and  the 
boys  held  the  dead  monkey  to  the  stork  by  its  long  tail. 
Chickabiddy  swallowed  all  down  at  one  gasp,  but  as  the  body 
lay  in  the  pouch  down  in  his  neck,  before  it  worked  into  his 
crop,  four  inches  of  the  long  tail  of  the  monkey  protruded 
from  the  corner  of  Chickabiddy’s  bill,  and  dangled  before  his 
eyes.  The  stork  tried  to  jerk  the  tail  into  his  bill,  and  con- 
vulsed us  all  by  turning  round  and  round  to  catch  the  tail, 
which  of  course  moved  with  him.  It  eventually  disappeared, 
but  the  struggle  was  very  amusing. 

Dead  parrots  went  the  same  way  ; and  whenever  we  shot 
any  of  the  hawks  which  wheeled  about  looking  for  our 
chickens,  the  stork  took  them,  bones,  feathers,  and  all.  One 
Sunday  afternoon  Comber  had  a little  class  of  boys  in  his 
room.  Pie  heard  a kitten  in  the  dining-hall  making  a noise. 
Looking  out  he  found  that  Chickabiddy  had  come  into  the 
room.  There  was  no  kitten  visible,  although  it  could  be 
faintly  heard.  Chickabiddy  looked  suspicious,  his  pouch  was 
much  distended.  Comber  opened  his  bill,  and  found  in  it  the 
kitten’s  tail,  and  a cry  coming  up  from  deeper  regions  ; he 


ARTHINGTON  STATION,  STANLEY  TOOL,  AND  CHICKABIDDY 


36 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


seized  the  tail,  and  pulled  and  pulled,  until  the  kitten  was 
pulled  out,  wet  and  frightened,  but  alive  and  ’well.  Chicka- 
biddy had  had  his  fish  that  day,  so  it  was  quite  an  unnecessary 
experiment  that  he  made.  The  kitten  grew  to  be  a respect- 
able cat. 

A man  from  near  Manyanga,  named  Lulendo,  who  was  in 
our  employ,  discovered  that  there  were  vines  of  india-rubber 
near  to  the  station  at  the  Pool.  On  Sunday,  in  his  own  time, 
he  would  start  early  in  the  morning  and  go,  with  a number 
of  empty  milk-tins,  to  the  wood  where  the  rubber  grew.  He 
would  cut  a gash  in  a vine,  and  set  a tin  to  catch  the  milky 
sap,  and  do  the  same  elsewhere,  until  all  the  tins  were 
receiving  the  white  drops  ; now  and  then  he  had  to  freshen 
a cut,  and  so  he  watched  them  all  day.  In  the  evening  he 
would  return  with  the  accumulated  sap,  and  boil  it  over 
a fire  ; the  water  would  thus  evaporate,  and  a lump  of  india- 
rubber  would  remain,  nearly  as  large  as  his  head.  The  addi- 
tion of  a little  acid  will  coagulate  the  milky  sap,  instead 
of  the  boiling,  and  for  this  purpose  the  acid  sap  of  an 
amomum  (?)  is  expressed,  and  added  to  the  rubber  sap  to 
reduce  it ; this  is  the  present  system  on  the  upper  river. 

There  is  a large  trade  in  salt  on  the  coast,  and  on  the  Congo 
Railway  it  is  the  only  thing  carried  interiorwards  at  cheap 
rates.  The  natives  on  the  coast,  in  many  places,  make  salt 
by  the  evaporation  of  sea-water  ; it  is  not  pure  chloride  of 
sodium  by  any  means,  but  it  serves  very  well.  On  the  upper 
river,  the  natives  make  salt  from  the  ashes  of  the  grass  which 
grows  beside  the  river.  They  cut  and  burn  the  grass  ; the 
smoke  of  their  fires  is  often  to  be  seen.  They  make  a very 
open  cone  of  cane-work,  line  it  with  large  canna  leaves,  fill  it 
up  with  the  ashes  of  the  grass,  and  make  a strong  lye  by 
filtering  water  through  the  ash.  The  water  takes  up  the  salts, 
and  when  well  saturated,  it  is  evaporated  in  neat  pans  about 
a foot  in  diameter.  The  salt  gathers  in  the  pans,  and  as 
fresh  lye  is  added  from  time  to  time,  the  pans  become  quite 
full,  and  are  then  an  article  of  trade.  This  grass-salt  contains 
a great  deal  of  potash,  and  to  us  is  exceedingly  nasty,  but  in 
their  need  of  salt  the  natives  are  glad  to  use  it.  In  a few 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


37 


places  there  are  springs  more  or  less  briny,  which  furnish 
a small  local  supply  of  salt. 

The  natives  are  very  clever  in  the  making  of  pottery.  Suit- 
able clay  is  fairly  common,  and  in  some  parts  an  almost  pure 
pipe-clay  is  found.  They  have  no  idea  of  the  potter’s  wheel ; 
but  putting  a piece  of  calabash  under  the  lump  of  clay,  to 
make  it  turn  freely,  they  very  deftly  turn  it  round  slowly  by 
hand,  and  make  some  very  thin  regular  ware.  It  is  hard 
sometimes  to  realize  that  the  articles  have  not  been  ‘ thrown  ’ 
on  the  wheel,  so  round  are  they,  and  even.  Having  roughly 
moulded  a vessel,  they  put  it  for  a while  in  the  sun  while 
another  is  made ; then  the  first  one  will  be  further  completed, 
and  so  on,  until  the  things  are  so  far  dry  that  the  stalk  or 
stand  with  which  they  are  made  can  be  cut  off,  and  the  bottom 
finished.  The  ware  is  then  further  dried  in  the  sun.  When 
a sufficient  number  are  ready,  they  are  grouped,  and  a fire  is 
lighted  round  and  over  them  ; so  they  are  baked,  becoming 
red-hot  in  the  process.  The  manipulation  is  slow,  and  there 
is  great  waste  of  heat  in  the  firing,  but  a very  serviceable 
article  is  turned  out. 

The  death  of  Hartland  was  a serious  loss  to  our  personal 
staff;  we  had  as  much  work  to  do  as  we  could  possibly 
accomplish  in  full  health,  but  in  case  of  sickness  the  pressure 
was  dangerous.  Crudgington  returned  from  England  with 
his  wife  on  September  6,  to  find  Dixon  almost  paralyzed  by 
an  obscure  tropical  disease  of  the  nerves  (possibly  beriberi). 
His  home-going  was  imperative  ; he  sailed  in  the  steamer 
which  brought  Crudgington  out,  with  a native  of  the 
Cameroons  to  wait  on  him,  and  reached  home  in  a very 
helpless  condition.  He  had  taken  charge  of  Underhill  for 
a while  alone.  When  caravans  came  to  fetch  loads  for  up 
river,  or  a steamer  came  to  be  unloaded,  they  had  to  be 
attended  to.  It  was  no  use  to  say,  ‘ I am  ill  in  bed.’  This 
then  was  the  position  to  which  we  were  reduced.  Our  friends 
at  home  regretted  it,  but  the  fact  remained,  and  the  help 
■came  but  slowly;  meanwhile  we  had  to  suffer.  In  England 
Dixon  slowly  recovered,  and  his  withered  legs  gained  strength ; 
but  he  never  returned  to  Congo.  The  medical  adviser  of  the 


38 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


Society  counselled  his  transfer  to  some  other  field,  and  he 
has  since  been  rendering  very  effective  service  in  the  China 
Mission  of  our  society. 

As  he  started  home  two  new  colleagues  sailed  from  Eng- 
land to  join  us,  Sidney  Comber,  M.B.,  and  W.  Ross,  of  Bristol 
College.  For  a long  time  Thomas  Comber  had  looked 
forward  to  the  pleasure  of  having  his  brother  Sidney  as 
a colleague  on  the  Congo.  Sidney  had  finished  his  theo- 
logical course  and  had  taken  his  M.B.  in  Edinburgh,  and  now 
came  to  join  our  ranks.  Another  brother,  Percy  Comber, 
was  then  in  Regent’s  Park  College,  preparing  to  come  out. 

Before  they  arrived  we  suffered  yet  another  loss.  Butcher 
was  in  charge  of  Wathen,  Manyanga.  Maloney,  the  seaman, 
was  doing  the  boat  work,  but  Butcher  had  the  heavy  transport 
work  in  hand.  Caravans  were  coming  and  going  every  day. 
He  wrote  in  the  end  of  June  to  a friend,  ‘No  one  will,  I 
think,  credit  the  amount  of  work  one  has  to  do.  Yesterday 
I could  scarcely  find  time  to  eat,  and  now  correspondence, 
accounts,  building,  teaching,  bartering,  palavering  ; carriers’ 
caravans  live  all  about  me,  with  strong  voices  calling  out  ever 
to  one  pair  of  hands,  “ Come,  work  ! ” I cannot  read,  I can- 
not study.  I really  have  no  time  to  get  sick.  When  I get 
fever,  I go  to  bed  for  an  hour,  and  then  up,  and  at  it  again. 
Where  are  my  home  dreams  now  ? I thought  I should  rub 
up  Greek,  theology,  mathematics,  and  all  sorts  of  things. 
My  only  satisfaction  is,  God  knoivs  zvhat  I do,  and  I think  it 
more  than  likely  I shall  never  live  to  tell  others  how  I have 
been  occupied  during  the  time  of  my  sojourn  in  this  land. 
Never  mind ! this  one  thing  I do!  He  had  a wonderfully 
strong  constitution,  but  there  is  a limit  to  the  strength  of  the 
strong  even  ; indeed,  the  strength  of  the  strong  is  their 
danger.  They  are  liable  to  impose  on  it  once  too  often. 

Maloney  came  up  with  the  boat  on  October  6,  to  find 
Butcher  seriously  ill.  He  nursed  him,  and  five  days  later  it 
was  decided  that  he  should  go  down  to  Hughes  at  Bayneston. 
At  the  last  moment  he  declined  to  go,  so  Maloney  sent  the 
boat  down,  to  call  Hughes  to  come  up  to  him.  Hughes 
arrived  on  October  i6,  to  find  that  Butcher  had  died  on  the 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 1S83 


39 


previous  evening.  Hughes  buried  him,  and  sent  word  up  to 
Comber.  ‘ Dreadful  climate,  that  of  the  Congo ! What 
fearful  losses  we  are  having ! ’ So  said  our  friends.  Poor 
climate ! Is  the  climate  to  blame  for  this  ? Some  said  that 
it  was  murder  to  send  the  men  out.  We  said  that  it  was 
murder  not  to  send  them.  So  we  lost  another  earnest, 
devoted  colleague,  after  sixteen  months  only  of  work  ; and 
this  was  the  third  loss  that  year  beside  Dixon,  whose  life 
was  spared,  although  he  was  lost  to  us.  On  November  i6, 
Harry  G.  Whitley  sailed,  coming  to  fill  the  gaps  in  our 
broken  ranks. 

When  the  news  of  Butcher’s  death  reached  us  at  the  Pool, 
there  was  only  one  course  open.  Comber  was  far  from 
strong  ; he  often  had  little  fevers  ; but  Mrs.  Grenfell  was  on 
the  station,  so  he  would  not  be  quite  alone.  I had  to  go  to 
take  up  Butcher’s  work  until  more  help  could  come.  It  had 
been  previously  decided  that  I should  go  home  after  a trip  up 
river  in  the  boat.  The  trip  was  impossible,  and  so  was  the 
home-going  for  a while.  It  did  not  matter,  for  I had  not 
had  any  fever  for  more  than  two  years.  The  news  came  on 
Saturday ; there  was  a hurried  packing,  and  on  Monday 
morning,  October  22,  I started  down,  reaching  Manyanga  in 
six  marches  (100  miles). 

As  I neared  the  station  I met  carriers  returning  without 
their  pay,  because  the  white  man  was  dead.  I begged  them 
to  give  me  a week  to  get  straight,  and  then  to  come.  They 
were  very  good,  and  made  no  trouble.  I took  stock;  and 
found  that  we  were  very  short  of  cloth.  There  were  320 
carriers  to  be  paid,  and  only  cloth  to  pay  100,  and  yet  more 
caravans  would  come  in  daily.  I sent  the  boat  down  for 
a good  supply  of  cloth,  and  arranged  to  have  more  sent  up. 
Butcher’s  sickness  had  disorganized  things  ; however,  they 
were  soon  set  straight  again,  and  once  more  the  transport  ran 
briskly. 

One  caravan  of  258  carriers  was  the  largest  we  ever  had. 
They  lined  up  all  round  the  quadrangle  in  good  order,  and 
their  loads  were  soon  checked.  One  box  had  been  tampered 
with;  it  was  ii  lb.  lighter  than  the  manifest  required.  The 


40 


. THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


man  declared  that  he  had  not  done  anything  to  it ; but  I was 
certain  about  it,  and  refused  to  pay  the  caravan.  The  men 
were  very  angry,  but  they  knew  the  custom  which  we  had 
instituted.  They  abused  the  man,  and  cursed  his  mother, 
threatening  vengeance.  Then  the  man  was  frightened,  and 
confessed  that  he  had  not  stolen  anything,  but  his  father-in-law 
had  done  so,  when  he  had  put  the  load  in  his  house  for  one 
night  in  passing  up.  The  crowd  yelled  when  they  heard 
it,  and  in  their  fear  of  deferred  pay  they  were  ready  to 
kill  him.  Then  the  head-man  urged  that  the  pay  of  all  should 
not  be  stopped  for  one  wretched  man  of  another  town.  ‘ Stop 
the  pay  of  his  twelve  townsfolk,  and  chain  him  up  until  he 
restores  all.’  This  was  reasonable  ; so,  amid  the  execrations 
and  ridicule  of  all,  he  was  handcuffed  to  the  spare  boat-chain, 
and  the  others  received  their  pay,  after  a lecture  on  the 
wrongfulness  and  folly  of  trying  to  rob  us.  It  was  a good 
lesson  to  the  great  crowd,  and  a point  scored,  for  one  solitary 
white  man  to  be  able  to  do  as  much  as  that  with  so  large 
a caravan  ; it  speaks  well  for  the  reasonableness  of  the  people. 
Two  days  afterwards  the  man’s  friends  came  with  the  stolen 
goods,  and  a couple  of  goats  as  an  apology.  The  man  was 
released,  and  the  townsfolk  paid.  During  those  two  days 
all  the  loads  were  sent  on  to  the  Pool,  and  loo  carriers  sent 
away  empty. 

The  natives  were  keeping  on  in  their  old  ways.  In 
November  we  heard  that  a woman  had  been  burnt  alive  as 
a witch  at  Ndandanga,  and  further  that  a man  named  Ta 
Seka,  who  was  to  have  shared  her  fate,  had  run  away  to 
Kimbuku,  and  was  to  be  fetched  that  day.  It  was  just 
lunch-time,  but  there  was  no  room  for  delay,  if  we  were 
to  save  the  man’s  life.  I started  off  with  the  factotum, 
Jose,  my  boy  Nlemvo,  and  a boy  of  the  town.  It  was  an 
hour’s  walk  to  the  town,  and  as  we  neared  it  a heavy  rain 
commenced.  We  hurried  on  into  the  town,  to  try  to  find 
the  man. 

We  asked  the  people  of  the  first  house,  but  no  one  would 
know  anything.  We  heard  the  report  of  a gun,  and  hurrying 
in  its  direction,  came  upon  a man  who  was  dragging  Ta  Seka 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  ; 1883 


41 


off  to  be  burnt.  They  had  clubbed  him,  and  had  fastened  a 
rope  round  his  neck.  We  drove  off  the  man  who  was  dragging 
him,  and  sent  away  a man  who  came  up  with  a gun.  The 
body  was  apparently  lifeless,  lying  on  the  face ; the  head 
a mass  of  blood,  beaten  by  sticks,  and  cut  to  the  bone  in 
eight  places.  As  I turned  him  over  he  gasped.  The  cold 
rain  revived  him  a little,  so  that  he  moved.  The  man  who 
had  been  dragging  him  came  up  with  a gun,  but  we  ordered 
him  angrily  away.  He  thought  that  we  had  revolvers,  and 
obeyed  ; we  were  quite  without  firearms.  We  looked  about 
for  means  to  carry  the  man ; there  was  nothing.  We  tried 
to  borrow  a cutlass,  but  no  one  would  lend  one.  At  last 
Jose  found  a stick,  seven  feet  long,  and  strong  enough  to 
carry  the  man. 

The  natives  came  out  to  know  what  we  were  going  to  do. 
They  said  that  the  chiefs  would  be  angry.  We  replied  that 
they  might  come  and  say  what  they  liked  at  the  station,  we 
were  not  going  to  parley.  They  were  inclined  to  violence, 
but  just  then  the  storm  grew  wilder,  and  the  driving  rain 
forced  them  into  their  houses.  That  was  our  opportunity. 
Jose  came  with  the  stick  ; the  two  boys  lent  us  the  cloths 
that  they  were  wearing  ; with  them  and  a piece  of  liana  rope 
we  tied  Ta  Seka  to  the  stick,  and  to  the  blank  astonishment 
of  the  people,  Jose  and  I shouldered  the  burden,  and  carried 
it  off  through  the  town,  and  up  the  hill.  They  shouted  after 
us,  but  we  hurried  on.  Over  the  crest  of  the  hill  we  stopped 
to  recover  our  breath.  Nlemvo  took  my  place  for  a little 
way,  and  then  I took  it  turn  and  turn  about  with  him  ; it 
was  a heavy  load.  When  we  neared  the  station,  Nlemvo  ran 
on,  and  shouted  for  the  Kru  boys  from  the  top  of  the  hill. 
When  we  saw  that  they  were  coming,  we  stopped,  and  let 
them  carry  the  burden  in. 

We  laid  the  man  on  a mat,  and  after  a rest  and  some 
refreshment,  for  I was  much  exhausted,  the  battered  head 
was  dressed.  The  scalp  was  quite  detached  from  the  skull, 
and  had  to  be  stitched  together.  Then  we  put  his  feet  into 
hot  water,  and  followed  it  with  strong  mustard  poultices  to 
his  legs.  After  an  hour  or  two  the  man  became  conscious, 

VOL.  II.  D 


42 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


and  spoke  a little.  Next  day  he  was  fully  conscious,  sat  up, 
and  pulled  off  all  his  bandages. 

The  chiefs  came  down  to  talk  the  matter  over.  I was 
busy  paying  carriers,  so  they  talked  first  to  Jose.  If  we 
wanted  to  have  Ta  Seka,  we  must  pay  for  him  ; they  must 
have  lOO  pieces  of  cloth.  When  Jose  laughed  at  them,  they 
came  down  to  sixty  pieces.  He  told  them  that  we  had 
picked  up  a dead  man,  who  was  going  to  be  burned,  he  had 
come  to  life  again,  and  we  certainly  would  not  pay  for  him. 
They  had  five  more  witches  who  were  to  be  put  to  death. 

When  I was  ready  to  talk  to  them,  they  asked  for  their 
victim,  that  he  might  be  burned  ; on  my  refusal  to  give  him 
up,  they  demanded  payment  for  him.  I said  that  they  only 
wanted  to  kill  him  ; why,  then,  should  he  be  paid  for  ? I would 
send  him  away,  up  river,  or  down  to  Bayneston.  They  had 
five  more  witches ; I offered  to  ship  them  away  rather  than 
that  they  should  be  killed,  but  I certainly  would  not  buy  every 
one  whom  they  chose  to  denounce  as  a witch.  We  could  not 
come  to  terms,  and  they  went  away  saying  that  if  Ta  Seka 
recovered  they  would  come  and  talk  again.  They  warned  me 
that  if  he  was  found  off  the  station,  he  would  be  shot. 

Next  day  the  man  was  better;  the  scalp  was  certainly 
healing.  Ta  Seka  wanted  to  go  to  the  town  to  get  his  palm 
wine.  I told  him  that  in  the  town  they  wanted  to  kill  him, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  we  had  rescued  him.  ‘Rubbish!’ 
he  said  ; ‘who  would  touch  me?’  Yet  as  he  said  it  his  scalp 
was  only  bandaged  to  his  skull.  This  is  characteristic  of 
Congos ; they  are  ready  enough  to  practise  any  devilry  on 
other  people  ; but  it  never  seems  to  occur  to  them  that  the 
measure  wherewith  they  mete  will  be  meted  to  them  again  ; 
they  always  reckon  on  going  scot-free  themselves. 

A little  later  the  man  was  missing.  A search  was  made  for 
him  ; he  was  found  in  a manioc  plantation,  and  brought  back. 
After  this,  a boy  was  set  to  watch  him ; he  found  means  to 
elude  the  boy,  started  off  on  the  way  home,  and  was  again 
brought  back.  It  became  evident  that  if  we  were  to  save  the 
man’s  life,  it  must  be  in  spite  of  himself.  Accordingly,  one  of 
his  legs  was  shackled  to  the  spare  boat-chain.  This  effectively 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 1883 


43 


anchored  him,  and  when  he  saw  that  he  could  not  do  as  he 
wished,  he  put  up  with  the  situation  with  a good  grace.  We 
did  our  best  to  keep  him  quiet,  for  there  was  great  reason  to 
fear  traumatic  inflammation  of  the  brain,  which  sets  in  about 
six  days  after  such  injuries.  Ta  Seka  was  a man  of  very  low 
type,  although  he  had  some  standing  among  the  people ; he 
had  three  wives,  and  one  or  two  children.  We  did  our  best 
for  him,  and  the  wounds  were  healing  well ; but  six  days 
after,  the  dreaded  inflammation  of  the  brain  set  in,  and  in 
the  evening  the  man  died. 

Next  day  we  buried  him  with  ceremony.  I put  on  a good 
quantity  of  cloth  as  his  shroud,  and  spread  the  flag  over  him 
as  we  carried  him  to  his  grave.  After  a decent  interment,  we 
fired  guns  over  his  grave,  and  altogether  made  a great  fuss 
over  the  funeral.  A number  of  natives  had  gathered  to  see 
what  we  would  do ; they  went  away  much  impressed,  and 
greatly  astonished  ; they  felt  that  I could  not  have  done  more 
if  Ta  Seka  had  been  my  uncle.  Everything  was  discussed  on 
the  markets,  and  all  felt  that  I had  done  well,  although  it  was 
a mistake  to  befriend  and  harbour  witches. 

The  officers  of  the  Comite  d’Etudes  were  busy  exploring 
the  valley  of  the  Nyadi-Kwilu,  the  first  important  stream 
north  of  the  Congo ; they  were  buying  sovereign  rights,  and 
making  treaties  with  the  natives.  About  ten  days  after  the 
death  of  Ta  Seka,  some  chiefs  and  people  from  the  interior, 
who  had  just  made  treaties,  came  to  Stanley’s  station  to 
receive  their  presents.  After  finishing  their  business,  they 
came  to  see  me,  and  said  that  they  did  so  because  of  what 
they  had  heard  of  my  kindness  to  Ta  Seka.  They  considered 
it  very  wonderful,  and  exceedingly  good  of  me  to  take  all 
that  trouble,  and  to  do  so  much  for  a man  whom  I had  never 
before  known,  and  finally  to  bury  him  with  so  much  honour 
and  liberality.  They  felt  that  they  must  come  to  see  me,  for 
it  was  the  talk  of  the  country.  I had  a long  and  interesting 
conversation  with  them,  speaking  of  the  terrible  superstition 
as  to  witchcraft,  and  telling  them  of  the  Saviour,  the  Son 
of  God,  who  had  taught  us  these  kindly  ways.  They  asked 
me  to  visit  them  in  their  country,  but  as  I went  home  soon 

D 2 


44 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


after,  and  other  changes  took  place,  they  have  never  been 
visited.  These  chiefs  seemed  to  be  of  a type  superior  to  the 
Babwende  of  Manyanga. 

Sixty  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Manyanga  is  a mining 
district.  Copper  and  lead  are  found  within  half  a mile  of  each 
other.  The  natives  only  work  near  the  surface,  sinking  their 
shafts  for  a short  distance.  The  ore  when  smelted  is  run  into 
small  ingots,  about  the  size  of  a finger.  In  some  the  lead  and 
copper  is  mixed,  but  the  greater  part  is  pure.  The  mines 
are  not  more  than  fifteen  miles  from  the  Northern  Kwilu,  but 
the  difficulties  of  transport  and  the  comparatively  small  out- 
put have  prevented  any  considerable  trade  with  white  men 
in  the  metal.  The  district  is  in  the  French  Congo.  Iron  is 
abundant  in  all  the  country. 

The  marriage  customs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Manyanga 
were  strange  to  us.  The  people  are  rowdy  and  excitable,  and 
if  one  town  has  a quarrel  with  another,  they  seek  at  once  to 
pay  their  grudges  upon  any  one  who  belongs  to  the  enemy’s 
town.  So  bad  and  unreasonable  are  they  in  this,  that  women 
who  go  to  other  towns  to  live  with  their  husbands  are  not 
safe.  If  any  one  of  the  husband’s  town  were  to  quarrel  with 
some  one  of  the  woman’s  town,  anywhere  or  at  an)/’  time,  the 
quarrelsome  one  would  go  and  beat  the  poor  woman,  and  pay 
off  his  grudge  on  her.  So  serious  did  this  become,  that  in  the 
Manyanga  district  the  women  would  not  go  to  live  with  their 
husbands,  but  instead  the  husbands  had  to  go  to  live  with 
their  wives.  Polygamy  was  very  common,  and  a man  who 
had  three  wives  had  three  homes,  each  in  a different  town  ; 
besides  these  he  often  had  his  own  house  in  yet  another  town. 
As  he  had  no  wife  at  his  own  home,  he  might  have  a son  or 
a nephew  to  look  after  his  house.  He  would  buy  his  bread 
stuff  on  the  local  market,  and  some  whitebait  or  smoked  fish 
would  be  purchased  as  occasion  offered.  Sometimes  he  would 
spend  a week  or  ten  days  at  the  river  side  fishing.  This 
wretched  system  tended  to  group  the  women  and  girls  in 
certain  family  towns,  and  there  were  villages  almost  without 
women,  and  others  in  which  there  were  few  resident  men. 
The  natives  by  their  wickedness  and  cruel  customs  manage  to 


TO  STANLEY  POOL  : 1883 


45 


bring  about  the  maximum  of  violence,  discomfort,  and 
wretchedness,  and  the  minimum  of  peace,  comfort,  and 
pleasure. 

On  December  7 our  new  colleague,  W.  Ross,  reached 
Manyanga.  He  had  suffered  a great  deal  from  the  sun  on 
the  way  up  country ; it  induced  fever  and  intense  pain  in 
his  head.  It  seemed  from  the  first  that  he  was  a man  con- 
stitutionally unfit  to  stand  the  climate.  No  one  could  have 
foreseen  it,  but  it  soon  became  evident.  We  hoped,  however, 
that  he  would  soon  get  more  used  to  the  sun,  and  that  with 
care  he  would  have  health. 

After  Christmas  I had  to  go  to  Lukungu,  to  arrange  some 
details  of  our  transport  with  Mr.  Ingham,  of  the  Livingstone 
Mission.  He  had  built  a neat  house  in  an  elephant-haunted 
district.  While  building  the  house  he  shot  two  or  three 
elephants  in  what  was  to  be  his  garden.  The  natives  were  at 
first  much  afraid  of  their  white  men,  but  when  an  elephant  or 
two  had  been  shot,  and  the  meat  given  to  them,  they  awoke 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  very  nice  to  have  a white  man  living 
among  them  who  could  shoot  tons  of  meat  for  them,  and 
destroy  the  great  pachyderms  which  ravaged  their  farms 
with  impunity  ; their  own  flint-lock  guns  were  useless  with 
an  elephant.  Ingham’s  elephant  hunting  was  the  means  of 
opening  his  district  to  missionary  work. 

While  we  were  at  breakfast  the  next  morning,  some  of  the 
once  timid  natives  on  the  hills  came  to  beg  Ingham  to  shoot 
some  elephants  near  their  town.  We  started  accordingly, 
and  after  a walk  of  more  than  an  hour  we  came  upon  a herd 
of  about  a dozen  elephants,  slowly  making  their  way  among 
the  trees  and  brushwood  by  the  side  of  a stream.  The 
elephants  at  that  time  were  not  much  afraid  of  harmless 
humanity,  but  they  turned  away  from  us  into  some  dense 
jungle.  We  followed  them  for  a mile,  keeping  along  a ridge 
beside  them  where  the  grass  was  not  so  dense  and  high,  and 
after  a while  went  down  to  their  track.  We  came  upon  them 
in  a cul  de  sac  formed  by  a narrow  bend  of  the  river,  and  fired 
at  them.  Their  backs  were  toward  us,  and  we  only  managed 
to  drive  them  into  the  river.  Running  up  to  the  place,  while 


46 


THE  TRANSPORT  OF  THE  PEACE 


Ingham  went  off  to  the  right,  I found  that  the  elephants  had 
blundered  down  the  steep  bank,  and  were  standing  in  the 
river,  waiting  their  turns  to  get  up  a narrow  trough  which 
they  had  worp  in  the  opposite  bank,  which  was  perpendicular 
and  fifteen  feet  high.  Their  tails  were  toward  me  ; I fired  once, 
but  there  appeared  to  be  no  chance  of  killing,  although  they 
were  so  close.  I could  have  jumped  upon  the  backs  of 
some  of  them.  One  of  them  was  found  dead  a few  days 
afterwards. 

It  may  seem  a pity  to  kill  such  noble  animals.  Noble  they 
are,  but  they  are  fearfully  destructive.  They  are  so  plentiful, 
that  there  are  stretches  of  country  depopulated  by  them. 
A herd  of  elephants  will  destroy  months  of  work  in  a poor 
woman’s  farm  in  a very  short  time.  A little  higher  up  the 
Lukunga,  and  in  that  neighbourhood,  the  natives  are  obliged 
to  scatter  their  houses  among  their  farms,  and  to  watch  them 
constantly  in  the  rainy  season  ; by  means  of  drums,  shouting, 
and  gun-firing,  they  can  drive  them  away  sometimes  ; but 
an  elephant  often  costs  more  to  the  natives  than  either  he 
or  his  ivory  is  worth.  I know  how  often  it  has  been  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  impossible  to  buy  food  for  my  carriers  and  boys 
when  itinerating,  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  of  elephants. 
I must  confess  that  my  sentiments  go  out  more  toward  the 
natives  than  toward  the  noble  animals. 

In  February,  1884,  I started  homewards  on  furlough,  and 
on  my  journey  coastwards,  arrived  early  one  Sunday  morning 
at  Bayneston ; the  workmen  were  all  busy,  and  there  were 
no  signs  of  a Sabbath.  I was  calmly  informed  that  it  was 
Saturday,  and  it  was  ruled  that  the  mistake  was  mine ; and 
so  it  had  to  be,  until  on  arriving  at  Underhill,  Hughes  was 
proved  to  be  wrong.  Meanwhile  the  Sabbath  was  duly 
observed  on  what  was  really  Monday.  Hughes  had  had 
a serious  attack  of  fever,  and  during  the  anxieties  of  the  time 
both  he  and  Moolenaar  had  forgotten  the  date.  The  only 
wonder  is  that  such  a thing  did  not  happen  more  frequently. 

Stanley  had  not  been  idle  since  his  return  to  the  Congo  in 
March.  He  made  one  exploratory  trip  as  far  as  the  Equator, 
where  he  founded  a station.  He  discovered  and  explored 


TO  STANLEY  POOL:  1883 


47 


Lake  Mantumba,  and  returned  to  the  Pool  for  supplies. 
After  a short  interval  he  once  more  ascended  the  river, 
established  a station  among  the  wild  Bangala  at  Iboko, 
which  is  now  known  as  Nouvelle  Anvers  ; continuing  his  way 
he  went  on  to  Stanley  Falls,  where  he  found  his  old  friend, 
Tipu-tib.  He  established  another  station  there,  as  a post 
of  observation  among  the  Arabs.  The  year  1883  had  been 
a year  of  great  progress  and  considerable  developments. 


SKULL  OF  A HIPPOPOTAMUS 


5: 


lu  ABB 


CHAPTER  II 

EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER: 
1884-6 

‘The  end  of  the  geographical  feat  is  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  enterprise.’— David  Livingstone. 

Arrangements  had  been  made  that  when 
the  Peace  should  reach  Stanley  Pool,  two  en- 
gineers would  be  sent  to  reconstruct  her.  It 
was  expected  that  the  transport  would  have 
taken  a couple  of  years,  but  when  the  carriers 
came  so  fast,  it  was  evident  that  in  a few'  months 
the  steamer  would  be  at  her  destination  ; a re- 
quest w^as  therefore  sent  home  that  the  engineers 
should  be  sent  out  at  once.  Grenfell  reached 
the  Pool  early  in  November,  1883;  there  he 
made  all  the  preparations  necessary  for  the 
building  of  the  steamer ; he  built  a workshop 
on  the  beach,  and  a shed  under  which  to 
build  her,  also  wooden  launch-ways.  He  sorted  the  plates 
and  pieces  of  the  steamer ; and  then  was  ready  for  the  arrival 
of  the  engineers,  w ho  were  to  come  out  with  John  Hartley, 
a new  missionary.  Grenfell  felt  that  the  waiting-time  would 
best  be  employed  in  making  an  exploration  of  the  upper 
river.  The  w'ater  was  low,  for  the  rainy  season  to  the  north  of 
the  river  was  over,  and  very  little  rain  had  fallen  to  the  south 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  49 


of  the  Equator.  The  low  water  would  enable  him  to  locate 
dangerous  rocks  and  sandbanks  which  would  be  likely  to 
obstruct  navigation.  Grenfell  started  on  the  voyage  on 
January  28,  1884,  in  the  Peace’s  boat — that  in  which  Comber 
and  I circumnavigated  the  Pool  a few  months  before.  He  took 
with  him  five  boatmen,  and  two  boys  to  cook  for  the  party. 
The  equipment  consisted  of  a week’s  supply  of  cassava 
puddings,  and  a bag  of  rice  in  case  of  emergencies,  some 
cocoa,  tea,  sugar,  and  a small  supply  of  medicine.  For  barter 
he  took  roo  brass  rods — the  length  of  the  currency  was  then 
twenty-five  inches ; beside  the  rods,  it  w'as  necessary  to  have 
a trunk  with  cloth,  knives,  looking-glasses,  beads,  and  other 
trifles.  A tent  was  taken,  in  case  of  opportunities  for  sleeping 
on  shore.  These  things,  with  cooking-gear,  an  axe,  two 
hatchets,  a hammer  and  nails,  some  rope,  and  a spare  oar, 
made  quite  a cargo  for  the  little  boat. 

In  two  days  Grenfell  reached  the  head  of  the  Pool,  and 
entered  the  gorge  of  the  upper  river.  The  scene  shall  be 
described  in  his  own  words : — ‘ Here,  stretching  away  before 
us,  was  the  open  avenue  leading  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
continent  mystcrieux,  as  our  neighbours  call  it ; steep,  tree-clad 
hills  of  a thousand  feet  or  so,  on  each  side  of  the  fast-rushing,  far- 
coming  Congo,  reflected  their  dark  green  hues  in  its  waters, 
making  in  the  evening  light  so  sombre  a picture,  that  one 
could  well  excuse,  if  the  mystery  had  not  been  already  solved, 
a superstitious  dread  of  attempting  to  penetrate  the  unknown 
through  such  an  unpropitious-looking  gate.  And  though  I 
knew,  and  those  with  me  also  knew,  what  I have  since  proved 
for  myself,  that  long  stretches  of  joyous  country,  glorious  in 
all  Nature’s  tropical  beauty,  and  that  great  and  numerous 
tribes,  revelling  in  bounteous  plenty,  were  to  be  found  lining 
the  banks  of  the  waterway  beyond,  none  of  us  could  resist  the 
melancholy  glamour  of  the  view.  So  it  was  when  I first  saw 
it  in  December  last ; it  was  the  same  this  time  as  we  left  the 
Pool  to  enter  upon  the  Upper  Congo  proper;  it  w'as  not  then 
the  effect  of  the  evening  light,  as  I had  thought,  though  it  was 
perhaps  partly  due  to  the  contrast  between  the  brilliantly 
white  Dover  Cliffs,  the  glistening  sandbanks  we  had  just  left 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1S84-6  51 


and  the  sober  hues  of  the  tree-clad  hills,  which  rose  almost 
precipitously  from  the  water’s  edge.’ 

For  two  days  the  boat-boys  pulled  steadily  up  the  long 
reach,  no  longer  picking  their  way  among  the  sandbanks,  but 
keeping  a sharp  eye  for  reefs  of  hard  quartzitic  sandstone. 
Grenfell  noted  carefully  their  position,  and  especially  the  more 
isolated  rocks  which  would  soon  be  under  water,  and  were 
if  possible  a greater  danger  to  the  navigation.  A rocky  reef 
which  is  seen  stretching  from  the  tree-lined  shore  down  into 
the  water  gives  warning  of  danger,  but  isolated  hummocks  of 
rock  near  the  surface  of  the  turbid  water  are  full  of  peril  even 
to  such  a shallow-draft  steamer  as  the  Peace.  There  are 
several  such  isolated  rocks,  which  seldom  appear  above  the 
water,  in  that  first  reach  of  eighty  miles,  from  the  Pool  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Kasai. 

By  noon  the  next  day,  Grenfell  reached  Mswata,  Stanley’s 
first  station  above  the  Pool.  The  chief  Ngo-ibila,  a very  fat 
man,  reminded  him  at  once  of  the  King  of  Congo.  He  was 
a shrewd  man,  well  disposed  to  white  men,  who  were  doubtless 
considered  by  him  to  be  cows  worth  keeping,  and  to  be  milked 
at  pleasure. 

Ten  or  twelve  miles  beyond  is  the  mouth  of  the  Kwa  or 
Kwangu  river.  The  Kasai  is  a very  much  greater  river  than 
its  affluent  the  Kwangu,  but  somehow  or  other  the  name  of 
the  first  southern  affluent  predominates,  and  the  greater  Kasai 
is  treated  as  an  affluent.  The  name  Ibari  Nkutu,  which 
Stanley  first  obtained,  is  seldom  heard,  but  it  is  used,  for 
I have  heard  it  used  myself.  Stanley  had  a second  station  at 
Kwa  Mouth.  De  Brazza  had  a station  five  miles  lower  down 
on  the  north  bank  ; Dr.  Ballay  was  in  charge. 

For  two  days  Grenfell  passed  a succession  of  towns  to 
Tsumbidi’s  (Chumbiri).  The  chief  presented  fish  and  plantain, 
and  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  gift  of  an  old  soldier’s  coat. 
This  part  of  the  Congo  bristles  with  rocks.  From  the  Kwa 
upwards,  the  hills  on  each  side  of  the  Congo  are  much  lower, 
and  the  river  broadens  out  in  some  places  to  three  miles  wide. 
Forty  miles  more  brought  Grenfell  to  another  station  of 
Stanley’s,  in  the  populous  district  of  Bolobo,  where  he  was 


52  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-6 


one  day  to  build  a station,  and  make  it  his  home.  The 
Bolobo  people  were  a strong  wild  folk,  who  thoroughly  under- 
stood that  they  were  stronger  than  the  white  man.  The 
station  had  been  burnt  once,  and  there  was  a strong  suspicion 
that  it  was  the  work  of  an  incendiary. 

For  two  days  above  Bolobo,  Grenfell  and  his  men  made 
their  way  past  frequent  towns,  large  and  well  built.  The 
people  were  timid,  but  when  their  fear  was  overcome,  they 
were  well  disposed.  When  the  boat  appeared,  the  people  ran 
away,  but  two  or  three  of  the  braver  of  them  would  remain  in 
hiding  near  at  hand  ; they  would  come  out,  however,  when 
called,  and  then  there  were  means  of  opening  up  communica- 
tions and  dispelling  their  fears.  They  arrived  at  sunset  at  one 
town,  and  wanted  to  sleep  on  the  beach,  but  the  people  would 
not  let  them.  It  was  growing  dark,  so  there  was  not  time  for 
the  parley  which  would  probably  have  settled  the  matter,  so 
they  pulled  over  to  a sandbank  a mile  away,  and  with 
difficulty  found  some  firewood,  and  encamped. 

It  appears  that  the  inhabitants  and  rightful  owners  of  that 
desolate  island  were  a herd  of  hippopotami,  although  they 
were  far  outnumbered  by  the  mosquitoes.  The  hippos  were 
close  to  hand  on  two  sides  of  the  island,  and  were  much 
puzzled  at  the  strange  white  tent  which  had  grown  there 
so  suddenly.  They  bellowed  and  grunted  in  a most  threaten- 
ing manner,  and  quite  disregarded  the  firewood  which  was 
thrown  at  them.  Presently  one  of  the  hippos  walked  across 
the  camp,  or  rather  attempted  to  do  so : he  was  promptly 
shot.  It  was  more  than  two  hours  before  another  tried  to  do 
the  same  thing ; when  he  did  he  met  a like  fate.  They  had 
not  intended  to  shoot,  for  fear  of  alarming  the  natives,  but 
they  were  obliged  to  do  so.  When  the  natives  found  some 
tons  of  meat  on  the  sandbank  in  the  morning,  they  began  to 
wish  that  white  men  might  come  often.  When  they  saw  how 
easily  the  great  beasts  had  been  killed,  although  it  was  never 
a simple  matter  for  them,  they  felt  that  white  men  were  not 
things  to  be  trifled  with. 

On  the  third  day  after  leaving  Bolobo,  the  hills  and  occa- 
sional cliffs  along  the  banks  ceased,  and  Grenfell  came  to  the 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lS8i-G  53 


great  central  swamp  which  extends,  with  occasional  short 
breaks,  for  about  700  miles.  The  opposite  bank  of  the  river 
could  not  be  seen,  it  was  below  the  horizon,  beyond  the 
wilderness  of  shallow  water,  and  low  sandy  islands,  some  of 
which  were  covered  with  a dense  vegetation.  Even  the  tall 
trees  were  crowned  and  draped  with  beautiful  creepers.  A 
narrow  channel,  seldom  more  than  200  yards  wide,  separated 
the  bank  from  the  islands  ; this  they  followed,  picking  their 
way  with  difficulty,  sometimes  through  herds  of  hippos.  On 
one  occasion  a hippo  rose  under  the  boat,  and  lifted  the  stern 
out  of  the  water.  A sudden  drop,  and  a splash  was  the  only 
result.  Another  hippo  left  the  mark  of  his  teeth  on  one  of 
the  steel  plates  of  the  boat.  Had  she  been  built  of  wood, 
what  with  rocks  and  hippos,  she  would  scarcely  have  survived 
her  first  long  journe)'. 

Six  days  from  Bolobo,  Grenfell  reached  another  of  Stanley’s 
stations  at  Lukolela  (Lokolele),  which  was  in  charge  of  a 
young  Englishman  named  Glave.  A this  place  the  river 
has  narrowed  to  two  miles  only  in  \\  idth,  and  the  opposite 
shore  is  visible  for  a few  miles.  The  natives  were  very 
friendly,  and  when  Grenfell  was  leaving,  old  Mangaba,  the 
chief,  gave  him  a basket  full  of  cassava  pudding  in  long,  thin, 
leaf-bound  rolls,  which  served  for  two  meals  a day  for  a fort- 
night. The  country  here  is  densely  wooded,  the  trees  are 
very  tall ; an  ironstone  ridge  rises  well  out  of  the  water,  and 
there  was  then  a population  of  about  5,000  souls.  Food  was 
very  plentiful.  Lukolela  seemed  in  every  way  the  best  place 
so  far  seen  for  the  establishment  of  a mission  station. 

A little  above  Lukolela  the  river  widens  out  once  more,  and 
the  opposite  bank  is  not  seen  again  for  many  hundred  miles. 
The  country  was  very  low  and  swampy,  not  more  than  a few 
feet  above  the  water  at  low  water.  As  Grenfell  neared  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  which  sometimes  drains  and  sometimes 
fills  the  Mantumba  lake,  he  passed  several  large  townships 
built  on  outcrops  of  the  ironstone ; the  largest,  Ilebo,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mantumba  river,  was  very  densely  popu- 
lated. The  people  were  wild,  but  very  friendly,  and  food 
abundant. 


54  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S4-6 


At  the  Equator  there  is  another  ridge  beside  the  river  about 
thirty  feet  high,  and  extending  for  some  ten  miles.  There 
was  a large  population,  and  Stanley  had  established  another 
station  among  them  ; it  was  in  charge  of  two  Belgian  officers. 
The  houses  were  built  of  sun-dried  bricks,  and  in  the  garden 
European  vegetables  throve  well.  They  had  only  been  there 
some  eight  months,  but  a very  great  deal  had  been  done  in 
the  time. 

Grenfell  would  have  liked  to  have  gone  on  further  to 
Bangala,  but  it  would  have  taken  eight  or  ten  days  more,  and 


SANGO  MEN,  UPPER  MOBANGI  | 


the  time  available  was  almost  finished.  The  engineers  who 
were  coming  to  build  the  Peace  were  almost  due,  so  he  con- 
sidered it  best  to  return.  He  crossed  over  to  the  right  (north) 
bank,  and  at  o°  28'  S.  lat.  he  found  a river  flowing  into  the 
Congo,  and  took  note  of  it  for  further  exploration.  This  proved 
eventually  to  be  the  northernmost  mouth  of  the  great 
Mobangi  river,  which  Grenfell  was  the  first  to  discover,  and 
on  a later  voyage,  to  trace.  Following  down  the  north  bank, 
he  had  not  time  to  call  at  many  of  the  towns ; but  in  the 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  55 


deltas  of  the  Mobangi  and  Sanga  rivers  he  found  coffee 
growing  wild  ; he  brought  some  seed  down  with  him,  and 
planted  it  at  Stanley  Pool.  The  plants  grew  to  be  a foot 
high,  then  a rain  torrent  came,  and  washed  them  out.  The 
discovery  of  coffee  growing  wild  on  the  Congo  promised  great 
economic  developments  in  the  future.  This  promise  has  been 
realized.  Immense  plantations  of  coffee  have  been  made,  and 
the  coffee  shrub  has  since  been  found  growing  wild  in  many 
parts  of  the  Congo  basin. 

Just  as  Grenfell  rounded  Kallina  Point,  above  Leopoldville, 


SANGO  WOMEN 


on  March  4,  Comber  came  out  of  his  house,  and  recognized 
the  little  black  speck  at  the  Point.  Comber  had  just  received 
sad  news  from  Manyanga  ; Hartley,  the  newly-arrived  col- 
league, and  the  two  engineers  who  had  come  to  build  the 
Peace,  were  all  three  dead  ; he  was  going  to  lower  the  flag  to 
half-mast  in  consequence,  but  the  sight  of  Grenfell’s  boat  made 
him  run  the  flag  up  to  the  top  again,  lest  Grenfell  should  be 
distressed  with  fear  for  his  own  family. 

John  Hartley  left  England  December  3,  1883,  with  the  two 


56  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1884-6 


engineers.  They  arrived  at  Underhill  while  I was  there  on 
my  way  home  in  February,  and  went  up  country  with  the 
men  who  brought  me  down.  They  were  sent  forward  on 
their  road  with  all  due  advice  and  counsel,  but  on  the  second 
day  of  their  journey  they  were  overtaken  by  a storm.  Their 
bundles  of  bedding  were  wrapped  in  india-rubber  sheets,  but 
were  badly  fastened,  so  that  the  rain  got  in  and  wetted  their 
blankets.  They  ought  to  have  been  dried  during  the  noon 
halt  next  day,  but  they  were  somehow  forgotten  day  by  day 
until  they  arrived  at  Manyanga ; Ross  could  then  wring  the 
water  out  of  them.  It  is  a story  difficult  to  understand  ; 
perhaps  the  weariness  of  the  road,  and  fever,  made  them 
careless  ; the  fact  remains.  It  is  not  surprising  that  they  all 
arrived  at  Manyanga,  by  the  boat,  in  fever.  For  a week  Ross 
tended  them,  and  tried  to  combat  the  fever,  with  no  success ; 
the  two  engineers  died  on  one  day,  and  the  following  after- 
noon, February  29,  1884,  Hartley  died  also.  It  was  a terrible 
shock  to  us  all,  this  threefold  loss.  Hartley  was  an  earnest 
man  of  great  promise. 

When  Comber  heard  the  news,  he  hurried  down  ; for  after 
the  week  of  heavy  nursing,  with  its  tragic  end,  Ross,  too, 
collapsed.  Exposure  to  the  sun  induced  in  him  very  acute 
pain  in  the  head,  and  he  was  in  such  a condition  that  there 
was  no  course  open  but  to  counsel  his  immediate  return. 
Very  regretfully  Ross  started  homeward,  and  found  at  Under- 
hill that  Harry  Whitley,  who  had  only  arrived  out  in  January, 
was  also  compelled  to  return  home.  He  was  very  much 
weakened  by  continued  fever,  and  had  developed  symptoms 
of  numbness  in  one  of  his  feet,  which  made  it  highly  probable 
that  he  was  suffering  from  the  same  obscure  complaint  as  that 
which  sent  Dixon  home.  Two  months  later  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Crudgington  had  to  return  home,  Mrs.  Crudgington’s  frequent 
fevers  rendering  it  imperative  to  return.  After  a few  months’ 
stay  in  England,  Crudgington  was  transferred  to  the  Indian 
mission  field,  and  has  done  good  work  at  Delhi.  It  was 
a great  disappointment  to  us  to  lose  him,  and  to  him  as  well. 
He  had  worked  with  us  from  the  first  days,  and  the  mission 
was  very  dear  to  him.  The  ties  that  bound  us  together  in 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-  6 57 


those  early  days  of  struggle  and  hard  work  were  very  strong. 
His  medical  knowledge,  business  abilities,  and  good  judge- 
ment, made  him  a most  valuable  member  of  the  little  band. 
With  him  in  charge  of  our  base  of  operations,  we  were  sure 
that  all  would  go  well  down  country. 

Crudgington’s  enforced  retirement  and  transfer  to  another 
field,  in  consequence  of  his  wife’s  inability  to  stand  the  climate, 
made  some  of  our  friends  seriously  question  whether  the 
Congo  missionaries  should  be  allowed  to  marry ! Happily, 
such  counsels  did  not  prevail.  Some  very  interesting  statistics 
were  brought  together  from  various  missions,  comparing  the 
health  of  ladies  in  tropical  Africa  with  that  of  the  men.  It 
was  seen  that  the  ladies  had  the  better  record,  and  that  many 
had  rendered  great  and  most  indispensable  service.  It  was 
decided  that  no  such  drastic  rule  should  be  passed  ; there 
might  be  times,  and  circumstances,  and  stages  of  mission 
work,  during  which  it  might  not  be  wise  for  ladies  to  go  out ; 
but  no  mission  could  be  properly  effective  until  ladies  could 
join  in  the  work.  Men  alone  working  together  grow  very 
careless  in  matters  of  comfort,  order,  and  food — matters  which 
may,  perhaps,  be  of  comparatively  small  moment  in  other 
climes ; but  in  the  wearing  work  and  climate  on  the  Congo, 
attention  to  these  things  makes  all  the  difference  between 
health  and  sickness,  life  and  energy  and  death. 

In  the  unavoidable  drive  and  bustle  of  an  undermanned 
station — our  normal  condition — a man  cannot  attend  to 
domestic  affairs  as  he  ought ; and  such  is  the  character  of 
available  native  help,  that  personal  supervision  of  every  detail 
of  the  work  is  an  utter  necessity.  How  often  is  a man 
scarcely  able  to  eat  his  food  even  in  peace ; he  is  obliged  to 
attend  to  so  many  things,  unless  an  expensive  gang  of  work- 
men is  to  stand  idle,  or,  worse  still,  spoil  a great  deal  of  work 
already  done.  Urgent  matters  that  no  man  in  his  senses 
would  neglect,  pull  one  about  here  and  there  in  the  hot  sun, 
until  the  boy  comes  to  ask  whether  it  is  not  time  to  ring  the 
mid-day  bell.  Through  the  many  cares  dinner  has  not  been 
ordered,  possibly,  and  the  lazy,  indifferent,  thoughtless  servants 
have  allowed  the  time  to  slip  by;  perhaps  the  cook  did 

VOL.  II.  E 


58  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1884-6 


go  for  orders,  but  in  the  difficulties  of  a surgical  operation,  or 
some  other  work  in  hand,  the  man  could  not  give  attention  to 
the  cook,  and  so  the  time  ran  on.  The  man  comes  in,  and 
sinks  on  his  chair  or  bed  exhausted.  The  cook  comes  again, 
and  reminds  him  that  he  has  no  orders  for  the  meal,  and  the 
weary  man  directs  him  to  ‘ kill  a tin.’  A tin  of  preserved 
meat  is  opened  ; the  greasy  contents  are  half  warmed  in  the 
'juice  ’ in  the  tin,  and  served  up  with  a piece  of  plantain  or 
fried  kwanga  (cassava  pudding).  A little  is  eaten,  but  there 
is  no  appetite  ; the  man  lies  down,  and  falls  asleep. 

The  boy  comes  to  tell  him  that  it  is  past  bell  time,  and  the 
men  ought  to  ‘ turn  to.’  The  men  have  to  take  their  orders  ; 
some  work  requires  personal  attention  ; the  thatching  of  a 
house  is  hopelessly  askew  ; it  must  be  taken  off  again,  and 
the  men  reproved  without  loss  of  temper ; although  they  can 
thatch  their  own  houses  evenly  enough.  The  carpenter  calls 
him  to  inspect  a crooked  door.  The  table  boy  has  broken 
one  of  the  few  remaining  plates.  The  discovery  is  made  that 
the  fowls  have  not  been  let  out  that  day,  and  the  fowl  boy 
cannot  be  found.  He  is  feverish,  and  has  been  lying  in  his 
house  all  day,  saying  nothing  to  any  one,  and  so  has  been  lost 
sight  of  in  the  rush  and  bustle. 

Or  perhaps  the  goat  boy  has  tied  the  goats  for  a whole 
week  to  the  same  set  of  stumps,  and  day  by  day  they  have 
been  standing  hungrily  in  their  tangled  cords  waiting  for  the 
grass  to  grow.  The  boy  in  charge  has  been  sitting  behind 
a clump  of  jungle,  absorbed  all  the  time  in  making  a fringe 
and  edging  to  a new  cloth  which  was  given  him  ; he  cares 
nothing  for  other  matters  until  he  has  to  drag  one  of  the 
dying  goats  to  show  his  master  that  it  has  ‘ something  the 
matter  with  it’  A caravan  comes  in  and  clamours  to  be 
attended  to.  The  men  are  hungry,  and  want  to  get  their 
return  rations  to  buy  some  food  some  miles  away  on  the 
homeward  road — the  nearest  place  to  buy  anything.  They 
must  be  attended  to.  So  it  goes  on  until  the  sun  sets,  and 
darkness  stops  all  operations.  The  tinned  meat  has  been 
‘ hotted  up,’  and  is  as  tasteless  as  before ; and  then  there 
follows  a tossing,  feverish  night.  And  then  the  Congo  climate 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884  - 6 59 


is  considered  very  deadly,  and  some  declare  that  it  is  a shame 
that  young  men  should  be  sent  out  to  die. 

If  there  had  been  a lady  on  the  station,  how  different  it 
would  all  have  been  !,o She  would  have  disciplined  the 
servants,  and  would  have  heard  the  scuffling  in  the  fowl- 
house.  Many  of  the  questions  she  would  have  answered,  and 
instead  of  so  much  friction  and  worry,  the  work  would  have 
run  smoothly.  The  meals  would  have  been  tastily  prepared  ; 
the  house  in  an  orderly  and  clean  condition  ; several  little 
comforts  would  have  been  arranged.  This  is  one  aspect  of 
the  case.  There  is  no  need  to  discuss  just  here  the  work 
of  the  missionary  lady  on  the  native  women  and  girls,  or  the 
influence  of  the  Christian  home  life.  The  matter  should  be 
only  too  apparent,  but  there  was  a time  when  many  thought 
that  the  Congo  was  not  the  place  for  a lady  to  go  to,  on 
account  of  its  deadly  climate.  Since  ladies  have  been  there, 
the  deadliness  of  the  climate  is  much  less  apparent  ; their 
presence  and  influence  have  had  much  to  do  with  this  change. 
But  we  must  resume  the  story. 

Thomas  Comber  remained  at  Manyanga  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  his  brother  Sidney,  who  was  on  his  way  from  San 
Salvador  direct  to  Bayneston,  and  so  to  Manyanga.  Happily, 
the  call  to  his  brother  had  been  sent  some  time  before,  so  he 
was  close  at  hand.  He  traversed  some  country  quite  un- 
explored, and  made  a very  interesting  journey.  On  March  27 
a white  umbrella  was  seen  to  be  descending  the  hill  to  the 
Mpioka  ferry.  Thomas  Comber  crossed  in  the  boat,  and 
the  two  brothers  met,  and  for  three  happy  months  they 
worked  together. 

Three  days  after  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Sidney  Comber  at 
Manyanga,  Stanley  reached  there  on  his  way  home  to  Europe. 
Gordon  was  coming  to  take  his  place,  and  some  of  his  baggage 
was  on  the  way.  Just  before  starting  he  was  urged  to  go  to 
Khartum,  to  treat  with  the  Mahdi  for  the  relief  of  the  Egyptian 
garrisons  in  the  Soudan,  and  to  endeavour  to  quiet  the  country. 
So  the  Congo  lost  Gordon,  who  started  instead  on  his  ill-fated 
errand.  In  his  place  came  Sir  Francis  de  Winton,  K.C.  B. 

One  matter  which  had  been  before  our  minds  was  now  to 


6o  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS4-6 


receive  attention.  The  developments  of  our  work  and  of  the 
country  rendered  it  desirable  to  change  the  position  of  our 
Wathen  station.  When  we  first  built  at  Manyanga,  the  site 
chosen  was  the  only  possible  one,  and,  withal,  most  convenient 
for  our  work ; but  two  years  and  a half  had  seen  great 
developments  and  changes.  The  road  to  Stanley  Pool  was 
thoroughly  open,  and  native  carriers  for  the  whole  distance 
were  plentiful.  Our  boat  on  the  Bayneston-Manyanga  reach 
was  no  longer  necessary  ; natives  did  its  work  overland.  The 
station  had  to  be  built  beside  the  river  ; but  as  the  towns  were 
on  the  hills  an  hour  away,  mission  work  was  seriously 
handicapped.  Our  friends  Lutete  and  Makitu,  at  Ngombe 
a Ntumba,  twenty  miles  nearer  the  Pool,  repeatedly  urged  us 
to  build  in  their  district.  It  was  decided  to  transfer  the 
station  to  Ngombe,  and  to  transport  the  Plymouth  to  the  upper 
river,  to  serve  as  a barge  to  be  towed  by  the  Peace.  While 
Stanley  was  at  Manyanga,  Comber  asked  him  to  give  us 
a site  at  Ngombe  in  exchange  for  our  site  at  Manyanga. 
This  he  readily  granted,  giving  us  ground  to  the  west  of  his 
own  station  there.  When  Stanley’s  station  at  Ngombe  was 
given  up,  his  own  site,  which  was  more  level  and  convenient, 
was  given  to  us  ; and  so  we  came  into  possession  of  our  present 
Wathen  site.  A proper  contract  was  drawn  up  and  signed, 
and  the  whole  business  thus  secured.  The  brothers  Comber 
went  at  once  to  Ngombe  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
transfer,  which  was  accomplished  during  the  three  months 
which  they  spent  together.  The  new  station  was  still  to  be 
known  as  Wathen  Station.  It  is  marked  on  maps  as  Lutete, 
or  Ngombe.  It  is  a fine  site  about  three  miles  from  the  river, 
which  flows  in  its  narrow  gorge  more  than  i,ooo  feet  below  it. 
The  station  is  about  1,750  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Ten  minutes  away  to  the  north-east  was  the  fine  town  of 
Ngombe,  the  home  of  the  most  intelligent  active  traders  in 
the  country  ; the  position  was  one  of  great  promise.  This, 
then,  was  to  be  Dr.  Sidney  Comber’s  field  of  work,  and  he 
was  to  be  associated  with  F.  C.  Darling,  a new  colleague,  then 
on  the  way  out  with  Cruickshank,  who  was  designated  for 
Stanley  Pool. 


FIRST  MISSION  HOUSE  AT  WATHEN 


62  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS4-G 


While  Comber  was  at  Wathen  Station,  Grenfell  was  alone 
at  Stanley  Pool ; but  he  was  not  idle.  When  the  news  of 
the  death  of  the  engineers  reached  him,  on  his  return  from 
the  exploration  of  the  upper  river  in  the  boat,  he  determined 
to  reconstruct  the  Peace  himself.  He  had  some  nine  coast 
people  to  help  him : four  from  Sierra  Leone,  one  a carpenter  ; 
from  Accra  on  the  Gold  Coast,  two,  a rough  carpenter  and 
a blacksmith ; two  young  men  from  the  Cameroons,  and  one 
from  Fernando  Po.  A good  deal  of  preparatory  work  had 
been  done  in  the  way  of  sorting  the  plates  and  parts  of  the 
.steamer,  and  the  laying  of  ways  upon  which  to  build  her. 
During  her  construction  at  Chiswick,  Grenfell  had  watched 
her  grow  day  by  day,  and  knew  her  thoroughly ; this, 
combined  with  his  own  great  mechanical  knowledge  and 
ability,  enabled  him  to  accomplish  the  reconstruction  of  the 
steamer  in  a most  perfect  manner. 

God’s  hand  is  seen  in  the  whole  stor}'^  of  the  mission ; His 
plans  and  arrangements,  causing  all  things  to  work  together 
at  the  right  time  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  designs,  are 
very  evident.  So  in  reference  to  our  steamer,  the  road  to  the 
upper  river  was  opened  in  a marv^ellous  way.  We  had  no 
idea  of  Stanley,  or  of  the  help  and  protection  that  he  would  be 
to  us,  when  we  started  on  our  work.  When  we  were  ready 
for  the  .steamer,  she  was  provided ; she  came  out  just  at  the 
right  time,  and  everything  favoured  her  arrival  at  Underhill. 
So  too  her  transport  up  country : the  native  carriers  were 
forthcoming  in  numbers  and  readiness  quite  unknown  before. 
The  rapidity  and  succe.ss  of  her  transport  astonished  us  all ; 
we  had  not  ventured  to  dream  of  such  a thing.  We  certainly 
had  planned  and  done  our  best,  but  we  cannot  claim  the 
credit  of  the  achievement,  by  a very  long  way.  It  was 
accomplished  in  a manner  beyond  our  most  .sanguine  hope.s, 
and  we  can  but  recognize  that  the  good  hand  of  our  God  was 
upon  us,  and  reverently  and  gratefully  acknowledge  it. 

So  too  when  the  steamer  had  reached  the  Pool,  we  had 
made  provision  for  her  reconstruction ; but  man’s  plans  arc 
not  always  coincident  with  God’s  designs  ; the  engineers  sent 
out  were  not  to  do  the  work,  God  had  made  other  provision. 


ESPLORATIOX  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  &SV-4  63 


Grenfell  wis  being  prepared  for  the  w>rk  God  hid  for  him  to 
do  before  he  went  to  Bristol  College-  Whai  in  btisiaess  in 
Birmingham,  he  was  in  the  service  o£  an  important  nrm  of 
commission  merchants : his  dut].*  was  to  boj*  and  inspect 
machinery-  for  his  nrm : he  therefore  studied  to  make  h-msel-~ 
pwoficient  for  his  dudes.  Wlien  he  entered  college  to  prepare 
for  mission  work,  he  had  the  hope  that  his  previous  trainn^ 
wonld  combine  to  make  him  all  the  more  usefcL  His  practical 
work  in  the  Camerooos  with  the  little  steamer  the  H^en  Saker, 
tended  further  to  draw  out  his  engineering  ahCftj':  so  that 
when  the  dme  came  for  the  construcdoo  and  work  of  the 
Peace,  he  was  eminently  qualihed  to  undertake  it — the  ri^t 
man  in  the  right  place.  The  whole  story-  indicates  a happy 
coococrse  of  circumstances,  too  many  and  too  marked  for 
any  one  to  talk  of  mere  luck  and  chance.  We  grateruEy 
recogniie  God’s  hand,  and  are  encouraged  to  go  forward,  in 
the  assurance  that  it  is  God's  work  in  which  we  are  cr.gaged, 
and  that  the  Great  Master  is  with  us  as  He  promised : ' Go 
j-e  . . . and  lo,  I am  witii  you  alway  1 * 

A great  deal  of  care  and  delkacv-  was  needed  in  the 
rivetting  of  the  Peace.  'The  plates  w-ere  very-  thfn  and  sofL 
though  tough ; carriess  blows  with  the  hammer  would  sooa 
cause  the  plates  to  ‘buckle*;  a bulge  would  be  made  which 
would  never  be  properly  Eattened  out  again.  The 
workmen  soon  developed  coosiderabLe  ability-;  the  keel  »as 
laid,  the  ribs  found  their  old  places,  the  plates  were  Ustened 
to  them,  and  were  carefiilS-  ri'veted  together  in  a permanent 
manner : so  the  steamer  grew,  until  she  was  ready-  to  receive 
her  bofler  and  ermines,  and  the  carpenters  pet  in  the  wooden 
fittir^  which  they-  had  been  arrangii^  and  pcepaimg.  In 
three  months  the  w-hole  cocstructioa  was  complete,  and  the 
beautiful  steauner  lay  00  the  stocks  ready  for  the  »-ater. 

On  June  13,  GreafJdl  wrote  to  tefl  Mr.  B^y-nes.  the 
Secretary-  of  our  Society,  that  the  launch  had  been  saie-y 
accomplished.  that  the  Peace  had  run  a trial  trtpi.  and  had 
attained  a speed  of  nearly,  if  not  quite,  ten  miles  per  hour. 
.A.  little  more  paint  aixl  a few  finishir^  touches  were  required, 
and  then  he  hoped  to  attain  the  maximum  speed  of  twelve 


64  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-6 


miles  per  hour.  He  naturally  concluded  his  letter  with  an 
earnest  appeal  for  immediate  reinforcements,  that  stations 
should  be  opened  on  the  upper  river ; that  the  Peace  might 
be  no  toy,  but  have  some  real  work  to  do. 

A few  days  later  Thomas  Comber  arrived  from  Wathen, 
and  was  delighted  to  see  the  beautiful  steamer  lying  beside 
the  wharf.  It  was  a sight  which  paid  for  much  hard  work 
and  the  tramp  of  many  weary  miles,  a sight  full  of  promise 
for  the  future.  Although  a great  task  had  been  accomplished, 
it  was  not  an  end,  it  was  only  a beginning.  All  this  work, 
this  transport  and  construction  of  the  steamer,  was  but  a means 
to  an  end,  and  that  end  the  evangelization  of  the  tribes  of  the 
wide  Congo  basin.  The  great  work  w^as  as  yet  untouched, 
the  whole  country  lay  in  the  power  of  the  evil  one ; his  will 
was  being  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  hell.  Violence, 
cruelty,  savagery  and  cannibalism,  every  misery  that  this  sad 
world  can  know,  all  were  rife,  as  they  had  been  for  ages.  But 
now  the  means  were  available  to  carry  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
into  this  realm  of  darkness. 

As  soon  as  the  Peace  u as  ready.  Comber  and  Grenfell  set 
out  on  a voyage  of  five  weeks,  to  prospect  for  sites  for  new 
stations  on  the  upper  river.  It  will  be  best  to  quote  largely 
their  own  account  of  the  voyage  in  a letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  our  Society,  dated  August  21,  1884: — 

‘ Having  decided  that  we  could  devote  five  weeks  to 
a prospecting  tour  in  the  Peace,  we  were  enabled  to  get 
under  weigh  by  nine  o’clock  on  July  7,  and  by  the  time 
for  dropping  anchor  in  the  evening,  we  found  ourselves  right 
beyond  the  Pool,  and  well  into  the  narrow  portion  of  the 
Congo,  which  extends  for  about  loo  miles.  The  next  day 
brought  us  almost  to  Mswata,  which,  counting  Kinshasa  and 
Kimpoko,  on  the  Pool,  is  the  third  International  station 
beyond  Leopoldville.  Having  passed  Mswata  and  proceeded 
five  miles,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  French  station  at  Nga- 
ntsu’s,  on  the  opposite — the  right — bank.  Another  five 

miles  brought  us  to  the  next  International  station  at  Kwa 
Mouth. 

‘At  this  point  we  determined  to  forsake  the  Congo  for 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S4-6  65 


awhile,  and  started  the  following  morning  to  go  up  the  Kwa, 
or  Ibari  Nkutu — which  the  natives  also  call  the  Bochini — as  far 
as  the  junction  which  it  makes  with  the  Kwangu.  We  were 
well  repaid  for  making  the  detour  by  our  coming  into  contact 
with  the  chieftainess  of  the  Wabuma,  a strong-minded  woman, 
who  rules  one  of  the  most  important  trading  communities  on 
the  Congo. 

‘ The  Kwa  for  the  first  thirty  miles  has  a mean  course  of 
north-east,  between  steep  grass  and  scrub-covered  sandy 
hills,  of  from  2co  to  500  feet  in  height,  and  having  narrow 
fringes  of  timber  along  the  water’s  edge  and  in  the  valleys. 
Along  this  reach  of  the  river,  which  has  a width  varying 
from  a quarter  to  three-quarters  of  a mile,  navigation  involves 
great  care,  by  reason  of  the  many  rocky  reefs,  which  stretch 
themselves  out  into  nearly  mid-stream.  From  north-east 
the  course  gradually  wears  round  into  an  easterly  one  for 
another  thirty  miles  or  .so  ; but  where  the  course  changes, 
near  the  friendly  town  of  Bo,  the  river  takes  upon  itself  the 
character  of  the  higher  reaches  of  the  Congo,  widening  itself 
out  among  sandbanks  and  islands  into  lake-like  expansions 
of  from  two  to  five  miles  wide,  and  five  to  fifteen  miles  long. 

‘It  was  after  journeying  about  fifty  miles,  and  passing 
the  second  of  these  expansions,  that  we  came  in  sight  of 
Xga  Nkabi’s  town  of  Mushie,  the  capital  of  the  Wabuma 
country.  It  is  a .series  of  hamlets,  extending  some  two  or 
three  miles  along  the  north  bank.  As  we  lay  at  anchor  at 
Mushie,  we  often  had  as  many  as  thirty  canoes  alongside, 
each  one  containing  somebody  anxious  to  sell  something. 
Besides  being  good  traders,  they  are  good  handicraftsmen, 
making  not  only  their  own  canoes,  but  a considerable  number 
for  sale.  We  saw  between  one  and  two  hundred  canoes 
along  their  beach,  and  several  new  ones  in  course  of  being 
finished.  They  are  roughly  made  in  the  forest,  and  are  then 
brought  home  to  have  the  final  touches  put  upon  them.  There 
is  always  hope  for  people  who  do  not  think  it  beneath  their 
dignity  to  labour.  Our  Bateke  neighbours  cannot  carry 
their  own  brass  rods  w'hen  they  go  to  make  a small  purchase, 
or  their  fowls  or  eggs,  if  they  have  them  to  sell.  They  must 


66  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISSi-G 


have  a boy  or  two  dangling  at  their  heels.  VVe  were  prepared 
for  a favourable  impression  of  the  Wabuma  people,  from  our 
experience  of  them  at  Kintambu,  where  there  is  a settlement 
of  their  traders.  They  come  down,  and  sometimes  stay  for 
months,  and  we  thus  have  time  to  become  intimate  with 
them.  Many  of  these  people  recognized  and  welcomed  us. 
A very  noticeable  feature  among  them  is  the  number  of 
bright-eyed  little  folk  they  have,  both  in  their  towns  and 
trading  camps,  contrasting  forcibly  in  that  matter  with  their 
Bayansi  neighbours,  and  speaking  not  only  in  their  favour 
socially,  but  to  those  who  know  the  details,  very  forcibly 
in  their  favour  morally. 

‘ Altogether  Nga  Nkabi’s  town  was  the  most  promising 
position  we  saw  for  a mission  station ; and  we  trust  our 
numbers  will  soon  be  sufficiently  augmented  to  allow  of  our 
occupying  this  point,  where  we  are  assured  of  a welcome 

‘ After  leaving  the  two  or  three  miles  of  hamlets  consti- 
tuting Mushie,  the  river  trends  south  by  cast  for  about  thirty 
miles  to  its  junction  with  the  Kwangu,  which  comes  from  the 
south-south-west,  and  is  a fine  stream  of  400  to  500  yards 
wide,  with  an  average  depth  of  two  fathoms  and  a mean 
current  of  a mile  and  a half  per  hour,  Livingstone  speaks 
of  it  as  very  swift,  and  150  yards  wide,  at  a point  500  miles 
south  of  where  we  saw  it.  We  had  to  be  content  with  going 
a mile  or  two  up  the  Kwangu.  Here  we  noticed  that  instead 
of  the  hitherto  universal  four-walled  houses,  the  natives 
built  round  ones,  which  denoted  pretty  plainly  that  we  had 
reached  the  borderland  of  a distinct  people.  Unfortunately, 
we  were  unable  to  open  communication  with  these  people,  as 
they  were  too  nervous  to  reply  to  our  questions,  or  respond  to 
our  salutations.  They  simply  ran  along  the  bank,  spear  in 
hand,  dodging  behind  the  trees,  as  though  afraid  of  harm 
which  we  might  possibly  do  them. 

‘ Having  just  had  a look  at  the  Kwangu,  we  set  out  upon 


’ The  Kasai,  which  is  really  the  main  river  of  the  Kwa,  was  later  on  adopted  as 
the  field  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  of  the  Southern  States  of  America  ; to  avoid 
overlapping,  and  leave  a clear  field  for  those  brethren,  we  did  not  occupy  Mushie 
after  all,  but  established  ourselves  elsewhere. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lS8i-G  67 


our  return  to  the  point  of  our  departure,  calling  at  our  friend 
Nga  Nkabi’s,  and  spending  an  hour  or  two  on  the  way.  We 
occupied  in  coming  down  a little  more  than  a day  and  a half, 
in  covering  a distance  that  had  required  five  days  for  the 
ascent. 

‘About  four  miles  beyond  Tsumbidi’s,  we  saw  a remarkable 
stony  hill,  common  enough  in  the  cataract  region,  but  con- 
spicuous here,  where  all  the  hills,  on  both  sides  for  the 
previous  100  miles,  had  the  smoothly-rounded  contours  peculiar 
to  the  sandy  ranges  of  this  part  of  the  continent.  These  hills, 
of  from  200  to  700  feet  in  height,  for  the  most  part  rise 
immediately  out  of  the  water  on  the  right  bank, 
while  on  the  left  bank  the  ascents  are  commenced 
by  gentle  slopes,  which,  together  with  the  rocky 
points  jutting  far  out  into  the  water,  afford 
sites  for  the  numerous  towns  we  passed. 

‘Soon  after  leaving  Tsumbidi’s, 
we  came  in  sight  of  the  Lone 
Island,  which,  though 


A CONGO  SPOON 

apparently  standing  all  by  itself,  as  we  proceed  we  dis- 
cover to  be  only  the  first  of  the  countless  islands,  u hich 
are  the  ever-present  feature  of  the  river  from  this  point 
to  Stanley  Falls.  Hereabouts,  too,  we  exchange  the  deep 
water  and  the  dangerous  reefs  of  rocks  for  shallows  and 
sandbanks  so  numerous  and  channels  so  intricate  that  we 
often  lose  sight  of  the  mainland,  and  have  to  rely  upon  our 
compass  for  the  course.  The  current  certainly  tells  us  whether 
we  are  going  up  or  down,  but  when  the  channel  is  two  miles 
wide,  to  “go  up”  or  “down”  is  not  always  sufficient.  It  is 
important  to  steer  a straight  course,  and  hit  the  right  bank, 


68  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-6 


and  not  to  wander  about  in  a maze  at  haphazard,  and  find 
oneself  on  the  wrong  one.  After  thirty  miles  or  so  among 
these  islands  and  sandbanks,  the  hills  once  more  approach 
the  river,  and  on  the  slope  of  these  hills  on  the  eastern  bank, 
ranging  for  about  a couple  of  miles,  we  find  the  Bolobo  towns, 
of  which  Ibaka  is  the  supreme  chief.  On  the  quarter  of  a mile 
or  so  of  debatable  land  which  lies  beyond  these  towns,  and 
before  reaching  the  Moye  district,  we  find  the  Bolobo  station 
of  the  International  Association. 

‘ In  Bolobo,  as  in  Tsumbidi,  we  find  the  Bayansi,  or,  as  they 
call  themselves,  the  Bobangi  people.  In  adjacent  Moye  we 
find  Banunu  people,  the  Banunu  being  probably  the  indi- 
genous race.  Inland  are  said  to  be  the  Batende.  Bolobo 
has,  as  we  have  said  above,  about  two  miles  of  villages  com- 
posing its  town.  Moye,  rather  bigger  than  Bolobo,  and  its 
villages,  each  under  its  separate  chieftain,  extend  further 
back  from  the  river  and  higher  up  the  sides  of  the  loo  feet 
hill  which  backs  them.  Between  Bolobo  and  Moye  there 
is  generally  enmity,  and  one  can  generally  reckon  too  on 
internal  dissensions  in  each  district,  one  chief  of  Bolobo 
frequently  not  being  “ on  speaking  terms  ” with  his  fellow 
chief.  Although  Ibaka  is  the  special,  and  perhaps  biggest 
chief  of  Bolobo  (being  the  white  man’s  chief  or  friend),  he  is 
not  by  any  means  the  only  one.  There  are  in  all  eighty 
chiefs ! The  chief  characteristics  of  Bolobo  people  appear 
to  be  drunkenness,  immorality,  and  cruelty,  out  of  each  of 
which  vices  spring  actions  almost  too  fearful  to  describe.  In 
hearing  of  these,  one  living  out  here  almost  gets  to  feel  like 
calling  the  people  terrible  brutes  and  wretches,  rather  than 
poor  miserable  heathen.  The  light  of  their  consciences  must 
condemn  them  in  most  of  their  sins. 

‘ On  the  afternoon  of  our  arrival,  accompanied  by  Lieut. 
Liebrecht,  of  the  Association  Internationale,  we  walked 
through  all  the  towns  of  Bolobo  and  Moye.  In  Bolobo  it 
was  a great  day,  a gala  day  indeed.  The  wife  of  one  of 
the  chiefs  had  died  somewhere  away,  and,  of  course,  there 
must  be  four  or  five  days  and  nights  of  orgies — any  amount 
of  dirty  sugar-cane-beer  swilling,  unbridled  licence  in  every 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  69 


species  of  sensuality,  and  a grand  finale  of  four  human 
sacrifices,  each  victim  being  a poor  wretch  of  a slave  bought  for 
the  purpose ! Drums  beating  briskly,  circles  of  “ fine  ” women, 
wearing  the  great  heavy  brass  collar  (2,5  to  30  lb. !),  dancing 
and  clapping  rhythmically,  and  plenty  of  people  about  in  all 
the  streets.  The  victims  were  tied  up  somewhere  ; of  course, 
they  would  not  tell  us  where ; they  were  said  to  be  apatheti- 
cally and  stolidly  awaiting  their  fate — bowstring  or  knife — 
both  being  Bobangi  ways  of  killing.  Remonstrances  and 
pleadings  on  behalf  of  these  poor  victims  were  all  in  vain. 

‘ Of  course,  in  walking  through  these  towns,  we  tried  to 
make  friends  with  the  people  as  much  as  possible.  We  know 
scarcely  any  of  their  language,  and  can  do  very  little  with 
them  more  than  tnake  friends  on  these  first  short  prospecting 
visits.  But  we  have  said  a great  deal  about  the  Bolobo-Moye 
district,  because  here  we  are  desirous  of  having  one  of  our 
stations  ; in  fact,  have  provisionally  decided  so  to  do,  the 
population  being  dense,  and  the  people  appearing  as  friendly 
as  anywhere— save  Nga  Nkabi’s  on  the  Bochini  river. 

‘ From  Bolobo  we  steamed  on  past  some  very  pretty  hill 
scenery,  passing  Moye  Nkunju  and  Sakamimbe,  charmingly 
situated  on  spurs  of  rocky  tree-clad  hills,  and  prettily  em- 
bowered in  trees.  These  people  seem  to  have  picked  all  the 
best  sites.  For  the  whole  of  the  distance,  100  miles,  we  saw 
absolutely  nothing  of  the  opposite  bank  of  the  great  river 
we  were  ascending  ; but,  keeping  somewhere  near  the  eastern 
shore,  and  a general  north-east  direction,  we  passed  among 
the  islands  in  channels  of  from  150  to  1,500  yards  wide,  in 
generally  shallow  water.  Towns  were  very  few.  As  we  ap- 
proached Lukolela  on  the  third  day,  we  found  the  current 
much  stronger;  and  at  last,  the  first  time  for  120  miles,  we 
saw  the  opposite  shore.  Just  above  Lukolela  the  river  narrows 
from  its  hitherto  unknown  width,  to  a mile  and  a half. 

‘ Lukolela  was  fixed  upon  as  the  site  for  our  first  new 
mission  station.  The  whole  of  Lukolela  and  its  vicinity 
is  the  densest  forest.  From  the  water’s  edge  the  ground 
gently  slopes  to  a height  of  about  sixty  feet.  Giants  of  trees 
abound — cotton  trees,  African  teak,  &c. — with  a girth  that 


70  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-6 


takes  the  edge  off  your  axe  almost  at  sight  of  it.  Our  staff 
being  so  few  in  number  that  while  we  were  away,  only  six 
brethren  were  distributed  over  our  five  stations  ; there  was  no 
one,  of  course,  to  take  charge  of  our  new  Lukolela  station ; 
it  will  probably  wait  for  Bentley ; but  although  so  short- 
handed,  we  have  actually  commenced  our  new  station.  Three 
men  from  Victoria  and  Bimbia  (of  our  Cameroons  Mission) 
are  placed  there,  with  three  months’  stores  of  food,  a great 
cross-cut  saw,  and  six  good  axes,  and,  after  clearing  a little 
ground  in  the  great  forest,  they  will  build  a temporary  house. 
Our  station  there,  as  at  Stanley  Pool,  will  adjoin  that  of  the 
Association. 

‘ The  villages  of  Lukolela  are  smaller  and  somewhat  more 
scattered  than  those  of  Bolobo  and  other  Bobangi  towns 
below,  although  Lukolela  people  too  belong  to  the  same 
enterprising  tribe.  They  differ  very  much,  however,  from 
their  more  wealthy  fellow  tribesmen  at  Bolobo  and  Tsumbidi, 
and  are  much  milder  and  more  pleasant  in  disposition.  The 
chiefs  are  three  in  number,  two  of  whom  have  the  name  of 
Yuka,  and  the  other — apparently  the  principal — Mangaba. 

‘ At  Lukolela  we  stayed  two  days,  fixing  our  site,  “ wooding 
up  ” for  the  steamer,  and  making  good  friends  with  the 
people.  They  seemed  all  very  glad  to  hear  that  we  were 
coming  to  live  amongst  them,  and  to  teach  them,  and  the 
chief,  Mangaba,  with  whom  we  made  special  friendship, 
promised  to  go  on  with  us  to  Bangala,  to  introduce  us  to  the 
chiefs  there. 

‘ Leaving  Lukolela  on  July  23,  we  slept  just  below  Ngombe, 
which  we  reached  early  the  following  morning.  Here  the 
river  narrows  again,  having  expanded,  as  usual,  between  the 
two  places.  Opposite  Ngombe,  a little  above,  is  the  Mobangi 
river,  evidently  a considerable  body  of  water  of  a light  cafc-mc- 
lail  colour  ; contrasting  strongly,  and  for  many  miles  refusing 
to  mix  with  the  dark  brown  water  of  the  main  river.  The 
two  bodies  of  w’ater  flow  side  by  side,  always  with  a great  deal 
of  commotion  and  splashing  waves  at  their  edges  of  contact, 
as  if  jostling  with  each  other  on  their  way  dow  n.  The  same 
is  very  noticeable,  too,  at  the  Lulongo  river  much  higher  up. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISSi-G  71 


the  water  of  which,  flowing  alongside  that  of  the  big  river, 
is  inky  black. 

‘ About  twelve  miles  further  on  we  came  to  a splendid  set 
of  towns,  viz.  Butunu,  Boshende,  and  Ilebo.  In  this  set  of 
towns,  especially  the  last  two,  which  are  separated  from  each 
other  by  a stretch  of  country  of  about  h mile  in  length,  we 
have  probably  the  densest  population  yet  seen  by  us  on  the 
Congo,  not  excluding  Bangala  towns.  The  people  literally 
swarmed,  the  crowd  coming  to  one  point  of  beach  numbering 
about  500  people.  Here,  as  at  Ngombe,  and  in  fact  almost  all 
towns  further  on  as  far  as  Liboko,  there  are  isolated  stretches 
of  rocky  banks  where  the  overlying  soil  seems  particularly 
fertile,  and  where  the  people  have  built.  Sometimes  this 
rocky  bank,  washed  by  the  current,  assumes  the  form  of 
a squared  and  artificially  constructed  quay  for  distances  of 
twenty  to  fifty  yards.  The  towns,  especially  the  Ilebo  ones, 
go  extensively  back,  away  from  the  river,  an  unusual  thing, 
as  if  the  suitable  building  land  along  the  river  front  was  not 
sufficient  for  the  people. 

‘We  anchored  off  Boshende,  and  went  ashore;  we  walked  to 
the  chief’s  house,  and  he  in  turn  paid  us  a return  visit  on  board, 
bringing  a present  of  a goat,  &c.  At  Ilebo  we  slept,  after  going 
on  shore  to  make  friends  with  the  people.  The  principal  chiefs 
are  Ipaka,  Mbeka,  Makwala,  and  Mangombo  ; we  made  special 
friends  with  Ipaka,  an  old  man.  We  walked  about  the  towns, 
and  found  each  chief  sitting  on  his  stool  outside  his  house, 
ready  to  give  us  a welcoming  shake  of  the  hands.  Talking  to 
the  people  of  Ilebo  and  Boshende  was  very  difficult,  whether 
on  shore  or  when  they  came  to  see  us  on  board  the  Peace. 
There  was  always  a deafening  din  of  voices.  Mayango,  chief 
of  Boshende,  and  Ipaka  of  Ilebo,  as  well  as  almost  every 
friendly  disposed  man  of  importance,  from  Tsumbidi  up  to 
Liboko,  were  very  desirous  to  seal  friendship  by  the  ceremony 
of  blood-brotherhood,  which,  among  the  Ilebo,  Bobangi,  and 
Bangala  people,  is  very,  very  common  ; but  the  rite  is  so 
meaningless  and  empty,  and  appears  to  have  no  binding  force, 
that  up  to  the  present  we  have  always  refused  to  drink  blood 
with  any  one  ; and  our  arms,  unlike  those  of  a few  upper 


72  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1884-6 


river  travellers,  and  notably  the  arms  of  all  Ilebo  and  Bangala 
chiefs,  are  not  covered  with  a lot  of  marks,  the  scars  of  blood- 
brotherhood. 

‘ Ilebo,  or  Ilebo-Boshende,  is  the  third  fresh  site  we  have 
chosen  for  one  of  our  future  stations 

‘ The  Congo  equatorial  towns  are  divided  up  into  districts 
as  follows: — Bojungi,  Mbongo,  Inganda,  and  Bwangata.  The 
population  is  very  scattered,  and  many  of  the  villages,  specially 
in  Lower  Inganda,  consist  of  only  a few  tumble- down  lopsided 
houses.  In  the  Bwangata  section,  however,  the  villages  were 
better.  At  Mbongo  below,  the  people  seemed  very  rudely 
bold  and  troublesome,  and  it  seemed  almost  as  if  they  wanted 
to  fight  us  because  we  would  not  stop  and  go  ashore  at  their 
rocky  beaches.  Inganda  was  especially  interesting  to  us, 
because  our  Livingstone  Inland  Mission  brethren  are  going 
to  build  there.  They  have  a fair  sphere  above  the  Bwangata 
towns,  but  a small  diocese  below.  These  people  about  the 
great  Ruki  river  are  the  most  primitive  of  the  people  we  have 
hitherto  met.  They  are  the  only  people  we  met  who  use  the 
bow  and  arrow.  Here,  too,  we  first  saw  an  African  shield,  and 
found  most  men  walking  about  with  bow  and  arrows  and 
shield,  or  spears  and  shield,  or  else  a murderous  knife. 

‘That  they  are  cruel,  curiously  and  ingeniously  cruel,  we 
know  from  the  description  given  us  by  Lieut.  Vangele,  the 
chief  of  Equatorville  Station,  of  the  methods  of  execution 
obtaining  amongst  them.  Certain  victims  die  by  the  knife, 
and  others  have  to  afford  to  the  bloodthirsty  spectators  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase.  These  last  are  given  a certain  start 
across  country,  and  then  are  pursued  in  full  cry  by  all  the 
people  armed  with  spears  and  bows  and  arrows.  An  obstinate 
victim  who  will  not  run  well  causes  disappointment,  but  others 
are  said  to  make  a “ fine  run  ” before  they  fall,  pierced  with 
arrows  and  spears.  The  death  by  beheadal  “ in  the  chair  ” 
has  already  been  described. 

‘ Interior  Congo  is  one  of  the  dark  places  of  the  earth, 
full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.”  We  have  been  told  that 

‘ Ilebo  has  since  been  occupied  by  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  so 
our  plans  for  Ilebo  were  never  carried  out. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS4-6  73 


among  the  Bobangi,  on  the  death  of  a chief,  scores  of  victims 
are  sacrificed. 

‘The  Ruki  river  we  found  to  be  just  the  magnificent  affluent 
Stanley  has  described  it,  quite  1,000  yards  wide,  and  with 
several  islands  at  its  embouchure.  Up  above  the  Ruki  river 
we  found  Bangala  towns,  stretching  right  away  to  1°  50'  N. 
(our  furthest  point)  to  Liboko,  where  Stanley  had  his  great 
battle  in  1877.  We  went,  however,  forty-five  miles  above 
Equatorville  before  we  arrived  at  Lulanga,  the  first  Bangala 
town  on  the  eastern  bank.  After  leaving  the  Ruki  river,  until 
we  arrived  at  Lulanga,  we  really  saw  no  point  on  the  eastern 
shore  where  a town  could  be  built : all  was  so  low  and 
muddy. 

‘At  Lulanga  we  had  our  first  real  introduction  to  Bangala 
people,  and  we  found  them  out  and  out  the  most  boisterous, 
wild,  noisy,  troublesome,  worrying  lot  of  people  either  of  us 
has  ever  met.  We  were  introduced  by  our  friend  Mangaba, 
of  Lukolela,  who  all  the  journey  had  made  himself  very 
interesting  to  us,  although  we  have  said  nothing  about  him. 
Like  all  Bobangi  people,  Mangaba  was  very  superstitious,  and 
carried  his  fetishes  with  him  on  board.  His  toilet  was  never 
complete  without  the  application  of  his  face  powder  and 
rouge — not  used,  however,  to  improve  the  complexion,  but  to 
make  mysterious  red  and  white  (pipe-clay)  marks  about  his 
body,  in  which  his  boy  assisted  him.  A white  line  up  his 
back,  from  hip  to  left  shoulder,  to  the  left  of  the  median  line, 
was  carried  down  thence  along  the  outer  part  of  the  arm 
to  the  hand.  Red  and  white  lines  were  drawn  on  the  left 
foot,  ditto  across  his  forehead,  but  all  drawn  with  the  most 
religious  care. 

‘To  converse  with  these  people  w'as  very  difficult,  but  we 
sometimes  tried  it  when,  in  the  evening,  we  had  prayer,  and 
gathered  round  us  our  boys  to  sing  our  Congo  hymn.  “ God 
hears  us  when  we  speak  to  Him,”  we  said  to  Mangaba. 
“Indeed!”  said  he,  not  much  surprised.  “Yes,  He  is  our 
Father,  and  He  is  very  very  good,  and  loves  us  all  very 
much,”  said  we.  But  to  this  Mangaba  objected.  “ God  was 
not  good.  Why  was  He  always  killing  people  ” (by  death). 

VOL.  II.  F 


74  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18Si-(; 


And  then  we  had  to  try  and  explain  the  resurrection,  and  the 
home  in  heaven  ; but  it  was  difficult  to  remove  his  sceptical 
objections. 

‘We  found  just  above  Lulanga  a considerable  river.  It  is 
called  the  Lulongo  river,  and  is  about  600  yards  wide  ; the 
water  being  inky  black. 

‘ From  here  to  Liboko-Bangala  is  eighty  miles. 

‘ Mangaba  informed  us  that  Bangala  was  divided  into  five 
districts : Lulanga  and  Bolombo  on  the  left,  and  Mungundu, 
Bukolela,  and  Liboko  on  the  right  bank. 

‘About  twelve  miles  above  the  Lulongo  river  we  crossed 
over  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  thus  obtaining  an  idea  of 
its  width  at  this  place,  although  we  crossed  very  obliquely. 
We  passed  three  Bukolela  towns — Lobengo,  Monsembe,  and 
Bombimba,  each  one  built  on  one  of  the  few  raised  plots  here 
and  there  obtaining  on  the  banks.  These  banks  were  of  clay, 
and  from  four  to  six  feet  above  the  water.  Along  the  beach 
were  broad  double  ladders,  a sort  of  landing-steps  reaching 
down  into  the  river.  The  people  here  seemed  quieter  and 
milder,  and  quite  ready  to  welcome  us. 

‘ At  last,  on  August  i,  we  reached  Liboko,  and  after  steaming 
along  seven  miles  of  towns,  more  or  less  close  to  each  other, 
we  came  to  that  of  the  great  chief  Mata-mayiki  (i.e.  plenty 
of  guns),  where  the  International  Association  has  built  a fine 
house'. 

‘ At  Liboko  we  were  halfway  to  Stanley  Falls.  On  setting 
out  from  Arthington  we  had  given  ourselves  five  weeks,  and, 
had  this  time  been  sufficient,  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  us 
going  the  whole  distance  of  1,000  miles.  There  was  nothing 
to  obstruct ; the  road  was  open  and  most  inviting ; the  Peace 
working  well  ; the  only  thing  which  made  any  lengthening 
of  our  journey  impossible  was  the  fact  that  we  had  left 
Mrs.  Grenfell  alone  at  Arthington,  and  one  of  us  was  overdue 
to  go  down  to  the  coast  and  home  to  England.  Our  gang  of 

' Liboko  (or  Iboko)  is  the  proper  name  of  the  district,  Bangala  was  the  name 
of  the  section  of  the  town  which  was  ceded  to  the  International  Association  by 
Mata  Bwiki.  It  has  now  become  the  name  of  the  district,  while  the  State  Settle- 
ment is  known  as  Nouvelle-Anvers. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  75 


Loangos,  too,  were  due  to  go  home.  So  we  had,  albeit  most 
reluctantly,  to  start  back.’ 

When  Grenfell  returned  from  his  first  trip  on  the  Upper 
Congo  (January  28-March  4),  a letter  was  sent  urging  that 
Mr.  A.  H.  Baynes,  the  General  Secretary  of  our  Society, 
should  go  to  Brussels,  to  obtain  from  the  International 
Association  a definite  grant  of  land  for  a mission  station  at 
Lukolela.  The  Home  Committee  requested  Mr.  Baynes  to 
visit  Brussels  with  that  intent.  He  was  honoured  by  a pro- 
longed interview  with  His  Majesty  the  King.  As  the  result 
of  these  negotiations  with  His  Majesty,  and  the  chief  officers 
of  the  International  Association,  two  important  agreements 
were  entered  into  between  the  Society  and  the  International 
Association,  by  which  perpetual  tenure  of  our  land  at  Stanley 
Pool  was  secured,  instead  of  only  a seven  years’  lease.  The 
desired  site  at  Lukolela  was  also  secured  at  a nominal  rental 
in  perpetuity.  The  news  of  this  had  not  reached  Comber  and 
Grenfell  when  they  started  up  river,  but  Sir  Francis  de 
Winton  had  accorded  provisional  permission  ; it  was  necessary 
and  reasonable,  however,  that  such  a matter  should  be  referred 
to  the  central  authority.  In  such  matters  we  have  always 
been  accorded  a kindly  consideration  ; there  is  now  a proper 
office  and  an  excellent  system  for  the  registration  of  land, 
and  when  the  State  Government  was  properly  established, 
new  agreements  were  drawn  out  pro  forma,  conveying  to  us 
our  land  at  the  various  stations  for  the  nominal  sum  of  five 
francs  per  station  ; giving  us  absolute  and  unconditional 
possession.  Our  title-deeds  are  thus  placed  beyond  dispute. 

On  their  return  to  the  Pool,  Comber  and  Grenfell  learned 
of  the  arrival  of  Darling  and  Cruickshank,  two  new  col- 
leagues. The  former  was  associated  with  Dr.  Sidney  Comber 
at  Wathen;  the  latter  came  on  to  Stanley  Pool  on  September  j 4, 
to  help  in  the  work  there. 

Thomas  Comber  spent  a month  in  arranging  affairs,  and 
about  September  18,  started  for  England  to  take  his 
furlough.  Arrived  at  Wathen,  he  found  there  an  engineer- 
named  Mims,  who  had  come  out  to  assist  in  the  construction 
and  working  of  the  Peace.  He  was  ill  of  fever  of  a persistent 

F 2 


76  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-6 


character.  Mims  had  travelled  up  country  with  Darling,  and 
on  arriving  at  Wathen  he  had  to  wait  for  some  of  his  effects 
which  were  behind.  While  waiting  he  went  to  a town  four 
and  a half  hours  distant  to  get  some  more  carriers,  and  came 
back  fatigued  and  over-heated  ; the  fever  ensued.  In  spite 
of  all  the  care  and  treatment  of  Thomas  and  Dr.  Comber, 
the  fever  was  persistent,  and  on  September  27  he  died.  Mims 
had  been  engaged  in  engineering  work  in  Cuba,  and  was 
thus  used  to  a tropical  climate.  It  is  strange  and  very  sad 
that  the  other  two  engineers  should  have  died  at  the  old 
Wathen  station  at  Manyanga,  and  that  now'  the  third  engineer 
should  die  at  the  new  Wathen,  Ngombe,  not  one  of  them 
living  to  reach  Stanley  Pool.  Thomas 
Comber  called  at  Victoria,  Cameroons, 
on  his  w'ay  home  to  see  his  sister,  who 
was  working  there,  and  reached  England 
January  10,  1885.  Further  help  came  to 
the  Congo  Missfon  in  1884.  In  Septem- 
ber Whitley  w'as  so  thoroughly  restored 
to  health  and  strength  that  he  was  able 
to  return  to  the  Congo,  and  joined 
Cruickshank  at  Stanley  Pool  ; he  was 
accompanied  on  the  voyage  out  by  a 
new  colleague,  George  Cameron,  wdio 
went  to  San  Salvador.  Weeks  had  been 
alone  for  eight  months,  and  w'as  glad  to  welcome  him  ; forty- 
five  scholars  were  in  attendance  at  the  school  there.  Donald 
McMillan,  another  new'  missionary,  sailed  for  the  Congo  in 
November,  and  was  located  at  Underhill. 

The  tale  of  our  losses  in  1884  w'as  not  yet  complete. 
Dr.  Sidney  Comber  had  w'on  a great  name  in  the  Wathen 
district  by  his  medical  skill,  and  had  made  good  progress 
with  the  language  ; but  his  career  was  soon  cut  short.  In 
December  he  had  a mild  attack  of  fever,  which  soon  became 
serious,  and  he  died,  after  a week’s  illness,  on  December  24. 
Splendidly  qualified,  and  well  prepared  for  his  work,  his 
death,  after  just  a year,  came  as  a great  shock  to  us  all.  His 
brother  had  been  in  England  a month  when  the  sad  new’s 


G.  R.  R.  CAMERON 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISSi-G  77 


reached  home ; he  had  seen  him  alive,  and  well,  and  happy 
in  his  work  so  recently,  that  the  news  of  his  death  was  all 
the  more  distressing.  It  did  not,  however,  make  him  dis- 
suade his  brother  Percy  from  giving  himself  to  the  work  on 
the  Congo  ; he  gladly  took  Percy  with  him  when  he  returned 
the  following  August. 

Early  in  1884  the  Home  Committee  felt  that  the  time  had 
come  to  make  some  definite  plans  for  the  upper  river  work. 
The  news  came  that  Grenfell  was  hard  at  work  reconstructing 
the  Peace,  and  that  she  would  soon  be  afloat.  What,  then, 
was  to  follow  ? The  account  of  Grenfell’s  journey  to  the 
Equator  was  to  hand,  and  I was  at  home  at  the  time,  and 
gave  other  needed  information.  A definite  plan  was  pre- 
pared to  lay  before  the  General  Committee,  which  met  on 
July  16,  The  matter  received  long  and  careful  considera- 
tion. It  was  felt  that  the  blessing  of  God  had  been  upon 
the  mission  in  a very  remarkable  manner,  and  the  first 
resolution  of  the  Committee  was  ‘ a devout  and  thankful 
recognition  of  the  striking  way  in  which  the  road  had  been 
made  ready,  and  the  path  made  straight. 

‘ Second — That  the  proposed  establishment  of  ten  stations, 
with  two  missionaries  at  each,  between  Stanley  Pool  and 
Stanley  Falls,  as  suggested  by  the  Congo  Mission  brethren, 
is  generally  approved. 

‘ Third — That  in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  immediate 
action  in  this  matter,  the  proposal  to  occupy  Lukolela  at 
once  is  cordially  approved,  and  leave  is  given  for  the 
establishment  of  at  least  two  additional  up-river  stations 
during  the  current  year,  or  as  early  as  practicable. 

‘ Fourth — That  further  reinforcements,  to  the  extent  of 
at  least  six  additional  brethren,  are  sanctioned  ; such  brethren 
to  be  sent  out  as  funds  permit  during  the  current  year,  should 
suitable  candidates  for  the  work  be  found.’ 

The  Committee  were  strengthened  in  their  determination 
to  ‘ attempt  great  things  ’ by  a letter  received  a few  weeks 
previously  from  our  generous  friend,  Mr.  Robert  Arthington, 
urging  them  to  a vigorous  forward  policy  ; it  was  accom- 
panied by  a cheque  for  ;^’2,ooo  to  aid  them  in  carrying  it  out. 


78  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RUHR:  lSSi-6 


The  year  1 884  will  always  be  famous  as  the  year  of  the 
scramble  for  Africa  on  the  part  of  European  Powers.  Until 
then  tropical  Africa  was  not  considered  worth  having.  The 
Gold  Coast  had  been  possessed  from  ancient  times,  and  the 
French  held  an  unprogressive  territory  about  the  Gaboon 
and  Ogowe  rivers.  Portugal  retained  her  old  penal  colony 
of  Angola,  and  attributed  to  her  king  the  obsolete  title  of 
Lord  of  Guinea.  From  time  to  time  she  claimed  sovereign 
rights  over  the  region  about  the  mouth  of  the  Congo — a claim' 
which  Great  Britain  refused  absolutely  to  allow.  The  ex- 
plorations of  de  Brazza,  and  his  boasted  annexation  of  the 
hinterland  of  the  Gaboon  and  part  of  the  Congo  basin  to 
France,  roused  the  Portuguese  from  their  apathy.  In 
November,  1882,  in  a lengthy  communication,  the  old 
Portuguese  claims  were  once  more  revived,  and  our  Govern- 
ment was  requested  definitely  to  recognize  the  rights  of  the 
Portuguese.  Correspondence  ensued,  and  the  matter  was 
favourably  entertained. 

On  February  26,  1884,  Lord  Granville  signed  a treaty 
between  our  Government  and  Portugal,  by  which  the  Portu- 
guese sovereignty  was  recognized  over  the  long- debated 
territory  situated  between  8°  and  5°  12'  of  south  latitude. 
By  this  treaty  the  mouth  of  the  Congo  river  was  handed 
over  to  Portugal,  and  the  future  of  our  Congo  Mission  greatly 
imperilled.  Had  everything  been  thus  placed  into  the  hands 
of  Portugal,  as  she  then  was,  we  should  have  been  hampered 
and  thwarted  at  every  turn,  our  expenses  indefinitely  increased, 
while  restrictions,  interference,  and  constant  annoyance  would 
have  hindered  the  pro.secution  of  our  work.  We  should,  if 
possible,  have  been  in  a worse  position  than  our  American 
brethren  in  the  F"rench  territory  of  the  Gaboon  were  at  that 
very  time. 

It  is  true  that  a clause  granting  religious  liberty  was  with 
great  difficulty  wrung  from  the  Portuguese  Ambassador  ; but 
the  great  reluctance  with  which  it  was  granted,  and  the  past 
experience  of  Portuguese  treaties,  gave  us  no  hope  that  this 
stipulation  would  be  fulfilled,  any  more  than  many  such  fair 
but  fragile  promises  made  in  the  past. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884 -C  79 


On  April  25  our  Society  presented  a petition  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  praying  that  the  Congo  treaty  be  not  ratified. 
Our  Government,  however,  had  so  far  committed  itself  in 
signing  the  treaty  that  it  was  most  reluctant  to  refuse  the 
ratification.  Trade  interests,  however,  were  at  stake.  The 
Chambers  of  Commerce  throughout  the  country  strongly 
opposed  the  measure,  and  when  it  was  found  that  the  other 
European  Powers  were  in  no  way  inclined  to  recognize  the 
dual  arrangement  between  England  and  Portugal,  the  Govern- 
ment was  obliged  to  abandon  the  treaty.  The  announcement 
was  made  in  the  House  th.at  the  Congo  treaty  would  not 
be  ratified. 

In  August,  the  news  came  that  Germany  was  annexing  the 
independent  territories  on  the  West  Coast,  and  had  acquired 
the  Cameroons  river,  where  our  Society  had  so  long  been 
working.  Complications  arose  in  consequence  of  this  action  ; 
also  in  reference  to  Angra  Pequena,  the  south-east  coast, 
the  Niger,  and  between  the  French  Government  and  the 
International  Association.  An  uneasy  feeling  was  awakened 
by  the  passion  for  annexation  which  had  arisen.  It  became 
necessary  to  call  a Conference  of  the  European  Powers  to 
consider  African  affairs.  After  a preliminary  interchange  of 
views  between  Germany  and  France,  an  invitation  was 
i.ssued,  and  the  Conference  held  its  first  sitting  at  Berlin, 
November  15. 

While  preparations  were  maturing,  the  International  Asso- 
ciation began  to  declare  its  policy.  The  King  of  the  Belgians 
had  expressed  the  desire  that  the  whole  of  the  basin  of  the 
Congo  should  be  thrown  open  to  trade  and  civilization.  Had 
the  people  been  left  to  themselves,  or  to  the  European  Powers 
having  possessions  on  the  coast,  we  might  have  waited  in- 
definitely for  the  opening  of  the  country.  The  French  and 
Portuguese  Governments  so  hampered  trade  with  heavy  dues 
and  restrictions,  that  nothing  could  be  done  at  any  long 
distance  from  the  coast.  King  Leopold  propounded  the 
great  idea  that,  if  the  basin  of  the  Congo  could  be  placed 
under  a Government  that  was  really  anxious  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  and  a railway  laid  to  connect  the  upper 


8o  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


with  the  lower  river,  the  whole  country  might  be  speedily 
opened,  and  its  vast  resources  placed  within  the  reach  of 
Europe.  If  a simple  trading  company  attempted  this,  it 
would  soon  be  ruined  by  the  greed  and  false  economy  of 
France  or  Portugal.  A railway  would  be  too  tempting  a bait 
for  avarice.  The  only  possible  thing  would  be  to  establish 
an  independent  State,  founded  on  enlightened  principles. 
Quietly,  but  energetically,  the  Expedition  acquired  sovereign 
rights  in  the  country,  until  France  and  Portugal  threatened 
its  existence  by  annexation  of  all  the  littoral. 


STATE  COURT  OF  JUSTICE,  BANANA 

When  the  Conference  commenced  to  sit,  Portugal  had 
large  claims  ; while  France  demanded  immense  territories  on 
the  north  bank,  and,  later  on,  ‘ discovered  ’ rights  to  further 
di.stricts  on  the  south  bank. 

It  seemed  likely  that  King  Leopold’s  lofty  plans  would  be 
all  frustrated,  the  immense  sacrifices  of  his  Expedition,  both 
in  treasure  and  life,  utterly  wasted,  and  all  hope  for  the 
future  of  the  P'ree  State  taken  away.  Without  a port  and 
free  communications,  the  State  could  not  exist.  So  great, 
however,  was  the  jealousy  between  the  Powers,  that  questions 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISSi  <J  8i 


of  sovereignty  had  to  be  rigorously  excluded  from  the 
Conference.  The  International  Association  had  therefore  to 
fight  its  own  battles.  The  United  States  had  recognized  the 
new  State,  and  now  negotiations  were  opened  with  the  other 
Powers.  France  presented  the  greatest  opposition.  In  the 
Conference  attempts  were  made  to  limit  the  time  during 
which  any  regulations  should  remain  in  force,  and  to 
restrict  the  area  of  incidence ; while  large  demands  were 
made  for  territory  belonging  to  the  new  State.  European 
jealousies  prevailed,  however,  to  thwart  this  greed.  The 
other  Powers  saw  no  advantage  in  allowing  either  France 
or  Portugal  to  annex,  and  keep  for  herself,  this  newly-found 
continent. 

At  length  terms  were  arranged.  France  was  to  have  all 
the  coast  from  its  colony  of  Gaboon  down  to  5°  south 
latitude ; thence  the  line  should  include  the  valley  of  the 
Niadi  Kwilu,  following  the  line  of  the  Chiloango  river  to  its 
northernmost  source  ; then,  striking  the  Congo  above  Man- 
yanga,  the  middle  line  of  the  river  to  the  Equator,  including 
the  valley  of  the  Likona ; the  first  degree  of  north  latitude 
being  the  French  northern  boundary. 

Portugal  was  very  obstinate,  and  an  identic  note  from 
England,  Germany,  and  France  was  necessary  before  she 
would  abate  her  pretensions.  Finally  she  accepted  the  ex- 
tension of  her  Angola  frontier  to  the  south  bank  of  the  river 
for  the  first  ninety-five  miles  (about),  as  far  as  the  Portuguese 
factory  at  Wanga  Wanga.  Thence  the  boundary  runs  south 
for  about  half  a mile,  and  a line  drawn  on  the  latitude  of 
Noki,  as  far  as  the  Kwangu  river,  bounds  the  Portuguese 
possessions  to  the  north,  and  the  Kwangu  river  on  the  east. 
A further  concession  to  Portuguese  susceptibilities  was  neces- 
sary, in  the  shape  of  a strip  of  coast  line  from  Masabe 
(5°  S.  lat.)  to  a little  below  Kabinda. 

The  Free  State  thus  obtained  thirty-seven  kilometres  (23I 
miles)  of  coast  line,  including  Banana,  the  port  of  the  Congo, 
and  a strip  of  north  bank  about  sixty  miles  wide  as  far  as 
Manyanga.  Thence  the  river  is  the  western  boundary  of  the 
State.  Its  north  and  south  frontiers  were  undetermined. 


82  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISSi-G 


being  in  what  was  then  unexplored  country,  and  extended 
from  4°  N.  lat.  to  6°  S.  lat. ; and  in  part  of  the  country  to 
the  sources  of  the  Zambeze  in  I2°  S.  lat.  The  thirtieth  degree 
of  east  longitude  is  roughly  its  eastern  boundary.  The  State 
had  the  recognition  of  all  the  Powers,  and  the  railway  past 
the  cataract  region  was  to  be  commenced  at  once.  We  can 
but  regard  with  the  highest  admiration  the  master  mind 
which  first  planned  such  a scheme,  the  consummate  skill  with 
which  the  various  stages  were  slowly  and  surely  elaborated, 
and  the  high  ability  with  which  diplomatic  arrangements 
of  great  difficulty  were  conducted  and  brought  to  a successful 
issue,  in  spite  of  such  jealousies  and  forces. 

It  was  gratifying  to  us  that  all  our  stations,  with  the 
exception  of  San  Salvador,  were  in  the  territory  over  which 
King  Leopold  had  accepted  the  sovereignty  ; and  we  regarded 
this  with  unbounded  satisfaction. 

The  founding  of  the  Free  State  of  the  Congo  was  the  chief 
though  indirect  work  of  the  Berlin  Conference.  Other  im- 
portant ends  were  attained : — The  final  Acte  Gaic'ral,  which 
was  signed  by  the  European  Powers  and  the  United  States, 
occupied  itself  first  with  a delimitation  of  the  territory  con- 
cerned. Commencing  on  the  Atlantic,  it  extends  to  the 
Indian  Ocean.  Its  northern  boundary  is  delimited  by  the 
crests  of  the  watersheds  of  the  Niari,  Ogowe,  Shari,  and 
the  Nile  ; reaching  the  Indian  Ocean  in  the  fifth  degree  of 
north  latitude.  On  the  south,  commencing  in  the  mouth 
of  the  Zambeze,  it  follows  the  course  of  that  river  until  five 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Shire,  and  continues  by  the 
line  separating  the  waters  flowing  towards  Lake  Nyasa,  from 
the  tributaries  of  the  Zambeze  ; thence,  following  the  crest 
of  the  northern  watershed  of  the  Zambeze,  and  on  to  the 
western  watershed  of  the  Kwangu  river  as  far  as  the  River 
Loje,  when,  following  the  course  of  that  stream  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  the  delimitation  is  complete.  Throughout 
these  vast  regions  there  was  to  be  absolute  freedom  of  trade  ; 
no  import  dues  were  to  be  levied  for  a period  of  twenty 
years,  when  the  Powers  would  decide  whether  that  clause 
should  be  maintained  ; no  privileges  or  monopolies  should 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  issi-o  83 

be  conferred  by  any  power  exercising  jurisdiction  in  this 
territory.  Article  VI  secures  absolute  religious  liberty : 
guaranteeing  the  suppression  of  slavery,  it  provides  special 
favour  and  protection,  without  distinction  of  nationality  or 
form  of  worship,  to  all  religious,  scientific,  and  charitable 


THE  governor-general's  HOUSE,  BOMA 

enterprises,  to  all  Christian  missionaries,  to  scientists  and 
explorers,  their  escorts  and  collections.  Freedom  of  conscience 
and  religious  tolerance  is  guaranteed  to  the  natives.  The 
free  and  public  exercise  of  all  forms  of  worship  (fous  les 
cultes),  the  right  to  erect  edifices  for  religious  purposes,  and 


84  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-0 


to  organize  missions  belonging  to  all  creeds,  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  no  restriction  or  impediment.  The  Acte  further 
regarded  matters  connected  with  postal  service  and  navigation, 
the  slave  trade,  neutrality  of  the  region,  with  matters  connected 
with  the  Niger  river,  and  the  formalities  of  annexation.  This 
received  the  signatures  of  all  the  Powers  on  February  26, 
1885.  We  might  well  hope  that,  after  these  arrangements, 
jealousies  and  scheming  would  cease,  and  that  we  could  look 
forward  to  better  and  brighter  days. 

As  to  our  mission  at  San  Salvador,  which  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  Portuguese,  but  within  the  territory  influenced  by  the 
stipulations  of  the  Berlin  Conference,  we  have  no  reason  to 
anticipate  any  difficulties.  The  Portuguese  have  now  a clear 
definition  of  their  territories,  and  the  jealousies  and  suscepti- 
bilities of  the  long  period  of  uncertainty  should  be  at  rest. 
Our  influence  can  no  longer  be  feared  in  the  country  thus 
recognized  by  the  Powers.  We  have  reason  also  to  believe 
that  there  is  a feeling  at  Lisbon  that  the  past  policy  was 
a mistake,  and  that  Portugal  must  win  the  esteem  of  Europe 
by  more  enlightened  measures. 

It  is  indeed  only  due  to  the  Portuguese  authorities  to  state 
that  they  have  always  pursued  an  enlightened  policy  toward 
us,  and  have  shown  us  every  consideration  ; they  have  not 
in  any  way  hampered  our  work,  and  our  relations  with  the 
officials  have  always  been  most  pleasant. 

The  close  of  1884  was  marked  by  another  journey  of  the 
Peace,  far  wider  afield  than  before.  On  his  return  Grenfell 
wrote  a graphic  account,  and  we  will  give  some  portions  of  his 
story  in  his  own  words : 

‘ Before  I recount  the  voyage  I must  mention  something 
which  happened  to  one  of  our  men,  four  days  before  we 
started.  On  the  evening  of  October  9,  after  a busy  day’s 
work  on  board  the  steamer  getting  her  ready,  James  Showers, 
Shaw,  and  Bob,  the  fireman,  were  enjoying  the  luxury  of 
a swim.  The  two  former  having  finished  their  bath,  entered 
the  small  boat,  and  were  being  followed  by  Bob,  who  was 
just  reaching  forward  to  grasp  the  gunwale,  when  he  cried  out, 
“Hold  me;  a crocodile  has  got  my  hand.”  James  imme- 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1S84-6  85 


diately  caught  hold  of  him,  and,  together  with  Shaw,  tried  to 
pull  him  on  board  ; but  the  crocodile  would  not  let  go,  and 
dragged  his  intended  prey  right  out  of  sight,  and  the  would-be 
rescuers  nearly  into  the  water.  James  and  Shaw  then  sat 
down  in  the  boat,  with  their  feet  firmly  planted  on  the 
gunwale,  keeping  a firm  grip  of  Bob’s  free  hand  and  arm,  and 
shouted  for  further  help.  Then  commenced  a struggle  as  to 
who  could  pull  the  harder — those  in  the  boat  or  the  crocodile 
in  the  water.  The  advantage  was  sometimes  on  the  one  side 
and  sometimes  on  the  other  ; but,  after  about  five  minutes’ 
struggle,  and  a final  unavailing  effort  with  a lot  of  swishing  of 
the  tail,  the  crocodile  gave  it  up,  and  went  away  disappointed, 
leaving  his  intended  victim  sadly  exhausted  by  loss  of  blood, 
with  a terribly  lacerated  hand,  and  with  wounds  on  the  face 
and  leg.  Dr.  Sims,  of  the  American  Mission,  very  kindly  did 
everything  that  was  needful  for  our  patient,  and  he  soon 
got  well.  The  first  intimation  that  something  special  had 
happened  I gathered  from  Shaw’s  bursting  into  my  room  with 
the  exclamation,  “ God  is  merciful ! ” And  indeed  we  all  felt 
that  God  was  merciful,  when  we  consider  how  narrowly  we 
escaped  a serious  disaster  ; for  had  Bob  been  a few  inches 
farther  from  the  boat,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  those  in  it,  he 
would  certainly  have  been  kept  under  water  until  drowned, 
and  then  easily  dragged  away  and  devoured.  It  has  made 
a deep  impression  on  all  our  boys.  We  only  wish  and  pray 
that  they  could  as  easily  recognize  the  danger  to  their 
souls  from  sin,  as  they  do  the  danger  to  their  bodies  from 
crocodiles. 

‘ We  set  out  on  October  13,  1884,  my  wife  and  1 and  little 
one,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Sims,  of  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union,  who  very  kindly  helped  me  for  some 
two-thirds  of  the  voyage.  In  addition  to  our  usual  crew, 
we  took  six  of  our  schoolboys,  and,  besides  these,  two  little 
girls  to  help  “ mamma  ” mind  our  baby,  nearly  a year  old. 
The  first  day’s  steam  took  us  some  distance  beyond  Stanley 
Pool.  Early  on  the  third  day  we  began  to  leave  the  more 
sparsely  populated  district  behind  us,  reaching  first  the 
friendly  town  of  Ngo-ibila,  with  whom  we  stayed  awhile. 


86  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER: 


and  afterwards  crossing  to  his  neighbour  Nga-ntsu,  and 
calling  at  the  French  station  which  adjoins  the  town. 

‘ The  following  morning  we  started  in  good  time,  and  after 
proceeding  some  fourteen  miles  along  the  right  bank  of  the 
main  stream,  we  came  to  the  Lefini,  or  White  river,  and 
decided  to  go  up  it,  to  see  whether  or  not  it  afforded  a better 
means  of  approach  to  Mbe  (Makoko’s  capital)  than  the  road 
which  comes  down  to  the  ferry  opposite  Ngo-ibila’s  town. 
For  about  twenty  miles  beyond  the  White  river,  the  Congo 
continues  comparatively  narrow — say  from,  one  to  two  miles, 
but  after  passing  Lone  Island  the  left  shore  was  lost  in  the 
distance,  or  hidden  by  the  numberless  islands  which  studded 
the  five  to  eight  miles  which  intervened  from  bank  to 
bank. 

‘After  thirty  miles  or  so  of  this  expansion,  the  river  con- 
tracted again,  and  we  were  able  to  descry  Bolobo  on  the 
eastern  side,  and  steered  straight  for  it.  Here  we  were  glad 
to  meet  Capt.  Hansens,  who  very  kindly  ratified  his  promise 
of  a piece  of  land,  by  measuring  off  and  making  an  agreement 
for  a plot  between  the  Association  land  and  Mboka  Ngoi,  the 
southernmost  of  the  Moye  towns.  This  piece,  though  not 
large,  is  capable  of  future  extension  at  the  back  by  arrange- 
ment with  the  natives,  and  is  certainly  one  of  the  best  sites 
for  mission  work  on  the  Congo. 

‘ After  about  sixteen  miles  or  so  of  north-easterly  journey- 
ing beyond  Bolobo,  following  the  opposite  bank,  we  came  to 
the  Nkie  or  Nkenye  river,  upon  which  we  spent  five  days. 
The  district  through  which  this  river  flows  we  did  not  find 
to  be  a populous  one  ; though  populous  and  hostile  enough 
to  nearly  put  us  in  a fix,  by  not  allowing  us  at  two  places  in 
succession  to  cut  firewood.  At  one  of  these  places  Dr.  Sims, 
who  went  ashore  with  the  wooding  party,  barely  escaped 
a spear- thrust,  and  our  boys  had  to  retreat  before  the  natives’ 
guns. 

‘ By  cautious  progress,  we  were  enabled  to  make  our  way 
for  seventy  miles  or  so  along  the  very  swift  and  tortuous 
stream.  The  natives  never  seemed  to  use  this  river  as 
a waterw'ay,  on  account  of  its  long  detours  and  strong  water. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1SS4-6  87 


that  rendered  an  overland  journey  an  easier  task — and  perhaps 
a safer  one  too,  considering  the  great  number  of  crocodiles 
which  we  saw.  The  people  were  Bangulu-ngulu,  a branch  of 
the  Bateke  family.  Their  largest  town  we  found  on  the  flat 
top  of  a very  considerable  hill,  about  150  feet  high,  near  the 
extreme  limit  of  navigable  water.  Here  they  were  fairly 
friendly,  though  they  would  sell  us  scarcely  any  food  ; this 
resulted  perhaps  from  their  fear  of  us,  and  I think  they  were 
greatly  relieved  when  they  saw  us  turn  to  go  down  stream 
again. 

‘ Going  up  a narrow,  crooked  river  is  far  easier  than  coming 
down,  and  it  was  only  by  the  most  careful  steering  that  we 
were  enabled  to  get  our  little  craft  safely  round  the  sudden 
bends,  where  the  current  sometimes  ran  from  three  to  four 
miles  an  hour.  Reaching  the  Congo  once  more,  we  came  to 
the  large  town,  Makutumpuku,  some  two  miles  or  so  further 
up  stream,  where  we  found,  as  is  usual  at  large  towns,  great 
difficulty  in  getting  supplies  of  food  ; even  after  much  palaver- 
ing, and  the  payment  of  high  prices,  we  were  only  able  to  get 
enough  for  half  a day. 

‘We  were  not  long  dropping  down  to  Yumbi,  where  half 
a day  sufficed  for  securing  both  fuel  and  food,  as  well  as  for 
a visit  to  a couple  of  towns.  The  next  day  we  were  among 
the  plenty  of  Lukolela  once  more.  Here  we  received  a warm 
welcome  from  Mr.  Glave,  whom  we  were  sorry  to  find  alone 
in  charge  of  the  Association  station,  his  colleague  having 
been  killed  since  our  last  visit  while  buffalo  hunting.  Our 
men,  left  on  the  previous  journey  to  prepare  our  site  for  occu- 
pation, had  made  a very  perceptible  impression  upon  the 
giant  forest ; they  had  cleared  a fine  piece  of  ground,  quite 
large  enough  to  allow  of  our  building  there,  as  soon  as  we  are 
ready  to  commence.  As  one  of  our  poor  fellows  died  within 
a month  of  his  being  left  at  Lukolela,  the  progress  made  was 
not  so  marked  as  it  would  otherwise  have  been. 

‘ Pursuing  our  journey  once  more  along  the  right  bank,  we 
found  that  after  leaving  Mbunga  there  was  no  village  for 
thirty  miles  or  so.  Then  we  came  to  one  situated  on  a rocky 
point  opposite  the  Ngombe  towns  ; here  the  river  commenced 


88  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884^6 


to  widen  out  again,  till  we  gradually  lost  sight  of  the  eastern 
bank. 

‘ We  now  commenced  to  look  out  for  the  mouth  of  the 
Mobangi  river,  but  as  we  maintained  a course  of  N.  by  E. 
and  NNE.,  which  corresponded  with  that  of  the  Congo,  we 
thought  that  " Mai  ma  Bobangi  ” was  just  a name  given,  as  in 
other  places,  to  a particular  portion  of  the  main  stream,  and 
that  we  were  still  on  the  Congo  itself  It  was  not  until  we 
had  journeyed  nearly  130  miles  up  the  Mobangi,  that  we 
made  sure  of  its  independence. 

‘ At  one  town  we  were  greeted  from  behind  the  stockade 
with  shouts  of  Bidimo  ! bidimo  ! ('‘  spirits  ").  One  of  their 
countrymen,  whom  we  found  at  Lukolela,  and  brought  with 
us,  assured  them  that  we  were  not  spirits,  and  that  we  went 
to  bed  and  slept  like  ordinary  people  (of  course,  spirits  never 
sleep) ; but  we  could  not  overcome  their  prejudice.  Short  of 
food  as  we  were,  we  had  to  go  empty  away.  It  now  remained 
to  see  if  the  people  on  the  left  bank  were  more  tractable  ; but 
on  our  crossing  the  river,  and  approaching  the  first  town,  the 
people  all  fled.  We  could  see  plenty  of  food  about,  and  as  it 
was  imperative  that  we  should  get  something  to  eat,  we  were 
not  prepared  to  give  up  our  quest  at  the  first  rebuff.  Three 
of  our  people  volunteered  to  go  ashore,  and  trj-  to  talk  to  the 
people,  who  evidently  had  not  gone  far.  We  therefore  put 
the  steamer  close  into  the  beach,  and  landed  our  ambassadors  ; 
they  took  a good  supply  of  cloth,  beads,  and  brass  wire  where- 
with to  open  negotiations. 

‘ We  had  not  to  wait  long  before  they  came  running  back, 
retreating  before  an  angry  crowd.  They  had  received  the 
spokesman  with  a spear-thrust,  which  he  marvellously  escaped. 
This  was  serious  for  hungry  folk,  but  we  were  not  yet  willing 
to  give  up,  so  we  steamed  off  to  a short  distance,  beyond 
spear-throw,  and  waited  awhile.  We  thought  that  perhaps 
when  the  people  returned,  and  found  their  cooking-pots  still 
on  the  fire,  and  their  corn  and  plaintain  still  standing,  they 
would  be  convinced  of  our  good  intentions.  As  we  steamed 
off  they  came  slowly  to  the  beach,  and  we  took  the  oppor- 
tunity of  displaying  our  bells  and  looking-glasses,  and  the 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lS8i~G  89 


trinkets  which  the  natives  delight  in,  all  with  the  hope  of 
subduing  them  into  friendliness.  After  a while,  thinking  that 
we  might  venture  again  to  make  overtures,  we  turned  round 
and  came  in  a little  closer.  The  warriors  all  began  to  get 
into  their  awkward,  sleeveless  jackets  of  elephant  and  buffalo 
skin,  to  get  behind  their  shields,  and  make  ready  their  bundles 
of  spears.  As  we  came  still  closer,  they  got  up  a war-dance, 
and  with  a terrible  yell  they  made  a charge  as  though  they 
intended  to  come  through  the  water  to  get  at  us.  It  was 
evident  that  we  must  wait  yet  a little  longer,  and  in  another 
hour  or  so  we  tried  again  ; but,  though  they  were  not  so 
demonstrative  (they  only  stood  ready,  and  did  not  dance  this 


A FLOATING  ISLAND  ON  THE  UPPER  CONGO 


time),  we  felt  that  we  could  not  do  more  than  just  steam 
slowly  by,  so  that  they  might  the  better  see  what  manner  of 
people  we  were. 

‘ Another  day’s  voyaging  took  us  nearly  into  the  Congo 
again  ; but  we  had  yet  another  experience  before  we  were 
clear  of  the  Mobangi.  It  was  about  eleven  o’clock  at  night 
when  I was  awakened  by  the  anchors  dragging.  The  strength 
of  current  and  the  numerous  floating  islands  induced  us  to 
put  down  an  extra  anchor  when  we  moored  in  the  evening. 
I immediately  ran  forward  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  It 
was  as  I feared  : a large  floating  island  across  our  bows. 
Yesterday  two  men  were  carried  over  the  Ntamo  Falls  in 

VOL.  II.  G 


90  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S4-(> 


sight  of  us  all  on  one  of  these  floating  islands.  I immediately 
gave  orders  to  get  up  steam,  and  called  all  hands  to  try  and 
push  the  island  on  one  side,  that  it  might  float  by  us  ; but  all 
our  efforts  were  of  no  avail — we  were  being  steadily  dragged 
down  all  the  while.  It  was  bad  enough  to  feel  the  steamer 
quivering  from  stem  to  stern  with  the  strain,  but  it  would  be 
far  worse  to  be  dragged  under  the  overhanging  trees,  across 
some  great  snag,  or  jammed  on  to  the  end  of  one  of  the  many 
islands  which  stud  this  part  of  the  river,  for  even  when  we  got 
steam  up,  “ full  speed  ahead  ” did  not  prevent  us  from  being 
carried  along  by  the  flood-borne  mass  of  vegetation. 

‘If,  as  we  tried  to  do,  we  could  not  push  on  one  side  this 
thousand  square  yards  of  floating  grass  and  herbage,  whose 
roots  extended  three  feet  or  so  into  the  water,  we  must 
cut  it  in  two,  and  so  allow  the  halves  to  float  by  on  either 
side.  We  served  out  a dozen  wood-cutting  hatchets,  and 
sent  the  crew  on  to  the  island  to  try  and  chop  through  it. 
They  worked  with  a will,  but  made  but  very  little  impression 
on  the  tangled  mass,  which  never  ceased  to  carry  us  on. 
Something  better  must  be  done ; hatchets  would  not  get 
through  by  daylight,  so  we  tried  sharp  knives,  but  with  no 
better  result.  Then  a happy  idea  struck  me,  “ Try  the  hand 
saws,”  and  in  about  ten  minutes  a couple  of  them  ran  through 
the  tough  roots  and  stems,  and  we  were  free  from  our  un- 
welcome companion  that  had  dragged  us  a couple  of  miles, 
anchors  and  steam  notwithstanding. 

‘ In  the  morning  a couple  of  hours’  steaming  took  us  out 
into  the  Congo,  and  soon  afterwards  we  came  to  Bokunji, 
and  later  to  Lokoto,  Lotumbi,  and  Mpumba,  all  friendly. 
We  went  on  as  far  as  Mokanga,  which  we  discovered,  by 
altitude  of  the  sun  at  noon,  was  five  miles  north  of  the 
Equator. 

‘We  were,  therefore,  to  the  north  of  Equatorville,  whither 
for  the  present  we  were  bound,  and  so  had  to  turn  back, 
and  make  our  way  across  the  river,  which  is  here  some  five 
or  six  miles  wide.  Finding  our  way  among  the  islands  was 
no  easy  task,  for  they  overlap  each  other  in  such  confusion, 
and  the  channels  are  so  intricate,  that  it  took  us  fully  three 


EXPLORATWy  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18Si-(S  91 


hours  to  get  to  the  other  side.  Here  we  spent  three  days,  and 
laid  in  a good  stock  of  food,  taking  care  that  some  of  it  was 
of  a kind  that  would  not  spoil  by  keeping,  so  that  we  might 
not  again  be  in  such  straits  for  something  to  eat.  Plaintain 
and  cassava  puddings  will  keep  all  right  for  a week,  though 
by  that  time  they  are  a bit  stale  ; but  cassava  roots  dried 
and  smoked  will  keep  indefinitely,  so  long  as  they  are  not 
allowed  to  become  damp. 

‘ We  had  started  once  more  and  proceeded  some  three  or 
four  miles  when  we  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Uluki  river, 
the  combined 
waters  of  the  Juapa 
and  Bosira.  We 
looked  longingly 
in  the  direction 
whence  its  inky 
waters  came,  but 
were  afraid  to  un- 
dertake a “ big 
journey  ” of  the 
length  which  its 
mighty  torrent  pro- 
mised ; we  chose 
rather  to  investi- 
gate the  Ikelemba, 
the  smaller  river 
which  debouches  a 
mile  or  so  further 
north,  whence  come  large  supplies  of  knives  and  spears,  and 
which  was  reported  as  very  populous. 

‘We  visited  Danda,  one  of  the  exclusively  Ngombe  towns, 
about  a mile  from  the  river ; it  was  quite  different  from 
anything  we  had  previously  seen,  being  entirely  surrounded 
by  a ditch,  twelve  feet  wide,  and  six  deep,  and  on  the  inner 
side  of  this  ditch  by  a tall  barricade  of  split  logs,  twelve  feet 
high.  There  were  three  enti'ances  into  the  town,  each  ap- 
proached by  a single  log  bridge  ; the  narrow  breaks  in  the 
barricade  were  provided  with  slabs  of  wood,  in  readiness  to 

2 


92  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1SS4-6 


close  them,  should  the  need  arise.  Dr.  Sims  and  Eyambi 
were  the  first  to  enter  this  town,  and  the  people  were  so 
much  startled  by  the  white  man’s  advent,  that  one  of  them 
jumped  up  and  let  fly  an  arrow  at  the  unannounced  visitors, 
very  narrowly  missing  the  doctor,  and  going  through  Eyambi’s 
cloth.  The  people  scarcely  appeared  to  understand  why  we 
did  not  declare  war  at  once,  and  regarded  our  attempts  at 
friendly  intercourse  with  such  evident  suspicion,  that  neither 
party  were  much  at  their  ease  till  they  were  farther  apart. 

‘ These  people  ornament  themselves  in  a frightful  way,  by 
making  raised  cicatrices  on  their  faces,  covering  them  entirel)-, 
in  some  ca.ses  even  the  lips,  with  lumps  as  big  as  peas. 
Sometimes  a man  will  have  a row  all  down  his  nose  as  close 
as  they  can  stick,  others  will  be  content  with  three  or  four, 
while  others  again  will  have  a big  one  just  on  the  lip, 
suggestive  of  a budding  rhinoceros  horn.  Some  will  have 
rows  of  these  “ blebs  ” all  round  the  eyes  and  along  the 
cheeks,  till  they  meet  at  the  chin,  resulting  in  a horrid 
similarity  to  the  outline  of  a “death’s  head.”  One  girl  whom 
we  saw  had  a lump  as  large  as  a pigeon’s  egg  on  each  side 
of  her  nose,  and  so  close  to  her  eyes  that  they  must  have 
been  a great  trouble,  for  when  she  wished  to  look  at  any  one, 
she  had  to  bow  her  head  and  look  over  these  “ beauty  marks.” 
The  Ikelemba  is  not  destined  to  rank  among  the  important 
affluents,  although  it  has  a goodly  number  of  inhabitants,  and 
its  manufacture  of  knives  and  spears  means  a good  deal  of 
trade.  Its  course  rather  surprised  me,  being  only  a point 
or  so  north  of  east. 

‘ Returning  once  more  to  the  Congo,  and  crossing  its  stream 
to  reach  the  right  bank,  we  pursued  our  way  up  river,  calling 
at  the  important  town  of  Bungata,  which  is  about  twenty-two 
miles  north  of  the  Equator.  Here  we  readily  made  friends 
with  Nanu,  the  chief,  and  were  able  to  purchase  \’ery  cheaply 
stores  of  food  and  firewood.  It  was  November  i<S,  and  while 
anchored  off  this  place  we  encountered  the  first  of  a series  of 
tornadoes,  which  made  navigation  at  this  season  somewhat 
dangerous  and  very  uncomfortable  ; but  the  Peace  rode  it  out 
admirably,  and  we  were  none  the  worse,  except  in  the  matter 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  93 


of  one  or  two  awning-curtains.  At  noon  of  the  following  day 
we  passed  the  site  of  the  deserted  town  of  Boberi,  whose 
people  had  been  driven  away  by  the  Inganda  (Equator)  men  ; 
they  have  now  settled  on  a narrow  creek  which,  during  the 
high-water  season,  communicates  with  the  Mobangi,  going 
right  across  the  narrow  peninsula  which  separates  that  river 
from  the  Congo.  Another 
day  took  us  past  the  twelve 
or  thirteen  villages  of  Bun- 
gundu  and  Bokomela,  where 
we  were  very  well  received 
by  the  people,  and  especially 
by  the  chiefs,  Mbangu  and 
Buia. 

‘ Passing  another  creek — 

Basungu — which  communi- 
cated with  the  Mobangi,  we 
came  to  Lobengo.  The  chief 
carried  on  his  net-mending 
in  his  “ palace,”  or  ngnmba 
house,  which  was  simply  a 
large  roof  60  or  70  ft.  long 
by  20  or  25  ft.  wide,  sup- 
ported on  posts,  and  without 
any  walls,  the  king  - posts 
being  finely  wrought  with  a 
species  of  carving  which 
added  greatly  to  their  appear- 
ance, and  evidenced  both  con- 
siderable skill  and  patience. 

This  ngnmba  - house  is  a 
general  apartment  (each  of 
the  wives  occupying  a separate  building).  Here  food  was 
cooked  and  eaten,  and  the  business  of  the  day  transacted, 
palavers  talked,  arid  pipes  smoked.  From  the  roof  hung 
a very  miscellaneous  collection  of  African  gear-nets  of  all 
kinds,  with  meshes  from  the  size  of  a finger  to  a span  long, 
for  catching  everything,  from  little  fish  in  the  water  to  large 


CONGO  KNIVES  AND  NECKLACE 
OF  leopards’  teeth 


94  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


deer  on  land  ; also  rat-traps  made  after  the  manner  of  the  toy 
known  as  the  Siamese  link,  into  which  if  a rat  once  enters, 
the  more  he  struggles  the  tighter  he  is  held.  Pipes,  too,  both 
long  and  short,  figured  prominently  among  the  furnishing 
of  this  roof ; the  chief’s  wives  smoked  the  short  ones,  for  they 
smoked  at  the  work  in  the  farms  ; but  the  chief,  having 
leisure  to  smoke,  rejoiced  in  jjipes  with  stems  from  six  to 
eight  feet  long.  Then  there  were  spears  and  spear-rests, 
shields  and  knives,  and  all  the  apparatus  for  taking  life,  as 
well  as  stores  of  medicines  or  charms,  to  save  that  of  the 
fortunate  possessor,  and  to  ward  off  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is 
heir  to,  the  which,  if  infallible,  would  be  as  good  as  the  elixir 
of  life.  Stools,  dishes,  a spare  bed  or  two,  fly-whisks,  a kind 
of  backgammon  board,  sundry  trophies  of  the  chase,  and  odds 
and  ends  too  numerous  to  catalogue  were  also  found  stowed 
away  in  this  capacious  roof. 

‘ The  following  day,  when  about  thirty  miles  south  of 
Bangala,  we  had  friendly  receptions  at  Monsembe  and 
Bumbimba,  though  at  the  former  place  there  was  a great 
deal  of  excitement  which  we  could  not  account  for.  This 
afterwards  transpired-to  result  from  the  expectation  of  being 
invaded  by  their  Bangala  neighbours.  There  were  scarcely 
any  women  and  children  to  be  seen,  the  majority  being  away 
in  the  safety  of  the  forest.  The  men  left  were  evidently 
prepared  for  a fight,  and  their  big  canoes  with  spear-rests 
fixed  already  launched.  As  we  continued  our  journey  we 
passed  the  sites  of  several  deserted  towns,  it  being  the  policy 
of  the  Bangalas,  as  of  all  large  peoples  in  these  parts,  to 
harry  outlying  communities  till  they  either  go  right  away  or 
draw  closer  and  join  their  confederacy. 

‘ Our  arrival  at  Bangala  was  the  occasion  for  none  of  the 
stir  which  characterized  our  previous  visit.  The  next  morning 
was  Sunday,  and  we  were  greatly  distressed  by  coming  almost 
facie  to  face  with  an  instance  of  cannibalism.  At  the  time 
I Commenced  this  journey  I could  scarcely  bring  myself  to 
believe  the  terrible  stories  which  reached  me  from  time 
to  time.  Since  coming  first  to  the  Congo,  the  further  I 
travelled  the  further  cannibalism  seemed  to  recede  ; everj-body 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1SS4-6  95 


had  it  to  say  that  their  neighbours  on  beyond  were  bad,  that 
they  “eat  men,”  till  I began  to  grow  sceptical;  but  here  at 
Bangala  I absolutely  caught  up  with  it,  and  was  obliged  to 
allow  what  I had  hoped  to  be  able  to  maintain  as  “not 
proven.”  I will  not  sicken  you  with  the  details  of  the 
preparations,  as  some  of  our  boys  gave  them  when  they  came 
to  tell  me,  in  the  hope  that  I should  be  able  to  interfere,  but 
before  they  reached  the  steamer  the  big  drum’s  dum-dum 
announced  the  final  act.  The  natives  could  not,  or  at  least 
appeared  not  to  understand  why  the  white  man  and  his 
people  should  take  exception  to  their  proceedings.  “ Why,” 
said  they  to  one  of  our  boys,  “ do  you  interfere  with  us  ? 
We  don’t  trouble  you  when  you  kill  your  goats.  We  buy  our 
nyama  (meat)  and  kill  it ; it  is  not  your  affair.”  From  this 
point  on,  the  evidences  of  cannibalism  were  continually 
recurring,  though  the  reluctant  manner  in  which  at  some 
places  the  people  acknowledged  being  “ men-eaters,”  leads  us 
to  hope  that  a sentiment  against  it  already  exists. 

‘ For  the  first  mile  or  two  above  the  Bangala,  the  villages, 
like  those  of  the  previous  six  or  eight  miles,  were  finely 
situated  on  rising  ground  ; beyond  this,  the  ground  was  often 
flooded  at  high  water;  but  it  did  not  prevent  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Mbinga,  Bokunji,  and  Losengo  districts  from  occupying 
the  next  thirty  miles  with  their  villages.  On  beyond  again 
extended  some  twenty  miles  of  still  lower  land,  with  only  one 
or  two  available  building  sites  ; and  then  we  came  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Mongala,  on  the  left  bank  of  which,  six  miles  up 
stream,  we  came  to  the  important  town  of  Mobeka,  which  is 
strong  enough  to  exist  as  the  hereditary  enemy  of  Bangala. 
At  the  time  of  our  visit  there  was  scarcely  a square  yard 
of  dry  ground  in  the  whole  town,  and  everything  looked 
wretchedly  swampy  and  unhealthy.  The  formal  reception 
being  over,  and  presents  having  been  interchanged,  \ve  were 
not  sorry  to  get  beyond  the  stockade  and  on  board  once 
more  ; and  to  leave  the  chief  and  his  people  to  the  mutual 
admiration  of  themselves  and  their  necklaces  of  human  teeth, 
and  the  contemplation  of  the  hideous  rows  of  skulls  with 
which  they  marked  out  the  pathway  in  their  fortified  swamp. 


96  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S4-0 


Four  or  five  miles  beyond  where  the  Mongala  joins  the 
Congo,  we  came  to  a very  important  town — Likunungu — 
whose  friendly  chief  and  people  contrasted  very  favourably 
with  our  acquaintances  at  Mobeka.  Here  we  were  able  to 
buy  food  and  firewood,  and  after  half  a day  spent  in  friendly 
intercourse  with  old  and  young,  we  were  enabled  to  leave 
with  good  supplies,  to  carry  us  be}mnd  the  hundred-mile 
stretch  of  low-lying  land,  without  towns  and  people,  and 
feeling  assured  of  a welcome  whenever  we  might  return. 

‘ On  December  i we  reached  Mpesa,  the  low  situation  of 
which  appeared  to  furnish  a very  uncomfortable  sort  of  site 
for  its  three  or  four  thousand  inhabitants.  An  hour  or  so 
before  reaching  Mpesa,  we  met  a fleet  of  twenty  or  thirty 
canoes  bound  down  river  to  the  quiet  little  creeks  which 
communicated  with  the  long  stretch  of  waterway  we  had 
passed,  and  which  during  the  falling  water  constituted  splendid 
fishing-grounds.  Three  miles  beyond  Mpesa  we  came  to 
Bokale,  a still  larger  town,  and  were  here  privileged  to  get 
a glimpse  of  the  other  bank,  which  we  had  not  been  able 
to  see  during  the  previous  200  miles.  On  rounding  a point 
which  divided  Bokale  from  the  next  town,  Bokuli,  we  suddenly 
came  in  sight  of  a long  straggling  reef  of  rocks  just  ahead, 
and  stretching  at  right  angles  for  a quarter  of  a mile  or  so 
right  out  into  the  stream. 

‘ Five  miles  more,  and  we  were  at  Bopoto,  a busy  place, 
where  much  blacksmith’s  work  is  done,  and  where  axes  and 
hoes  are  made  to  supply  the  needs  of  all  the  surrounding 
district.  Here  it  became  needful  for  us  to  exchange  our 
beads,  wire,  and  cloth  for  axes,  so  that  we  might  be  furnished 
with  this  very  aeceptable  currency,  as  we  went  further  afield. 
Two  brass  rods,  reckoned  at  twopence  each,  bought  one  axe, 
and  one  axe  we  found  would  in  some  places  buy  a goat. 

‘At  the  small  towns  on  the  fringe  of  the  high  land  just 
beyond  the  hills  the  people  were  all  very  friendly,  and  we 
got  on  very  well  ; but  these  were  soon  passed,  and  we  entered 
upon  another  low  and  uninhabited  stretch  of  about  fifty  miles, 
till  we  came  to  the  Mbumba  district.  Here  for  some  reason 
the  people  were  very  timid,  and  we  did  not  fairly  succeed  in 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lS8i-6  97 


overcoming  their  suspicions  of  us.  They  appeared  to  be  very 
different  from  those  lower  down,  their  hair  not  being  so 
fancifully  dressed,  nor  their  teeth  filed,  though  they  indulge 
in  strangely  painting  their  bodies ; elaborate  patterns  in  red 
and  black,  and  sometimes  an  entire  coat  of  these  pigments, 
doing  service  as  a suit  of  clothes.  The  grass  houses,  to  which 
we  have  been  so  long  accustomed,  here  give  place  to  those 
of  mud. 

‘ From  Stanley  Pool  our  course  was  steadily  northwards,  till 
the  Mongala  was  reached  ; there  it  commenced  to  run  due 
east ; and  now  at  Mbumba  we,  for  the  first  time,  commence  to 
trend  south.  Just  in  the  bend  of  the  river,  after  passing  the 
Yambinga  towns,  we  entered  upon  another  of  the  northern 
affluents — the  Lubi  river,  better  known  among  the  natives 
as  the  Loika  or  Itimbiri.  It  is  a considerable  stream  of 
150  to  300  yards  wide,  and  we  were  enabled  to  follow  it 
for  nearly  100  miles  ENE.,  till  we  came  to  a fall  which 
barred  our  way.  Near  its  confluence  with  the  Congo  its 
towns  are  large,  and  the  people  tractable  ; as  we  went  further 
up  they  became  more  timid,  and  we  had  difficulty  in  com- 
municating with  them. 

‘ The  first  towns  were  those  on  the  right  bank,  occupied  by 
the  Yankoi ; further  up,  on  the  opposite  bank,  were  the  towns  of 
Mosaku  and  Mambuta.  It  was  market-day  when  we  arrived, 
and  we  counted  more  than  a hundred  canoes  on  the  Mosaku 
beach.  The  chief  was  very  friendly,  and  made  us  a small 
present,  venturing  on  board  to  do  so.  He  was  evidently 
greatly  impressed  by  the  white  man’s  fine  canoe  ; when  one 
of  our  men,  not  thinking  what  the  result  would  be,  suddenly 
opened  one  of  the  steam  valves,  this  impression  was  so 
profoundly  deepened,  that  his  kingship  and  all  his  satellites 
jumped  overboard,  as  well  as  the  occupants  of  some  twenty 
or  thirty  canoes  alongside,  and  swam  ashore.  Such  a scramble, 
such  a splashing,  and,  happily,  such  fun  when  they  found  it 
was  about  nothing.  Their  equanimity  was  soon  restored,  and 
all  went  well  again  ; we  were  able  to  lay  in  a good  stock  of 
the  market  produce,  buying  among  other  things  some  fine 
yams,  which  were  very  acceptable. 


98  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-G 


‘ The  next  series  of  villages  belonged  to  the  Bakusu,  who 
also  ran  away,  though  we  just  managed  to  catch  a glimpse 
of  the  hindermost  ones,  women  mostly,  with  children  in  their 
arms,  and  a few  plantain  hurriedly  slung  round  their  necks. 
Hereabouts  we  found  that  the  river  makes  its  way  through 
a channel  cut  across  small  ranges  of  hills  running  north-west 
— the  cuttings  through  the  hills  showing  us  small  cliffs  of 
from  thirty  to  a hundred  feet  high— the  valleys  between  the 
hills  were  mostly  low  and  swampy.  At  the  next  town, 
Bonganga,  we  found  the  people  all  burning  the  marsh  grass, 
and  small  floating  plants  to  make  salt ; although  they  were 
a bit  nervous  at  first,  we  were  able  to  visit  their  town,  and 
to  enter  upon  very  satisfactory  relationship  during  the  after- 
noon and  morning  we  spent  there.’  Our  stay  in  the  morning 
was  due  to  the  weather,  it  being,  as  it  often  is  at  that  season, 
too  foggy  to  allow  of  our  going  ahead.  Ten  miles  further, 
and  we  came  to  the  Momenge  villages,  which  extend  four 
or  five  miles  along  the  left  bank.  These  were  charmingly 
situated,  and  in  the  midst  of  extremely  fertile  ground  ; the 
houses  were  all  well  built  of  clay,  and  had  rounded  ends, 
and,  to  add  to  their  already  neat  appearance,  were  either 
whitewashed  or  coloured  a brilliant  red. 

‘ From  the  following  six  or  eight  small  villages  everybody 
ran  aw  ay ; then  we  came  to  larger  towns,  all  fenced  in,  where 
the  people  were  hostile,  and  shot  their  arrow's  at  us,  and  we 
had  to  pass  on.  By  the  time  we  reached  the  first  Mobele 
town,  we  were  in  w'ant  of  both  food  and  firew'ood,  and  we 
had  to  “ lay  siege  ” to  it  for  two  or  three  hours  before  we 
managed  to  make  friends  ; we  did  not  succeed  in  doing  so 
until  we  had  convinced  them  of  our  peaceful  intentions, 
by  only  replying  to  their  flights  of  arrows  with  peaceful 
overtures ; even  after  one  of  our  boys  had  been  slightly 
wounded,  and  we  had  had  a lot  of  narrow  escapes.  Fortu- 
nately, one  of  the  little  girls  we  had  on  board  came  from  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  was  able,  after  awhile,  to  make 
herself  heard  on  Shore  ; she  made  them  understand  that  we 
only  wanted  food,  and  that  we  w'ere  ready  to  giv'e  very  fine 
things  in  return. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-G  99 


‘ The  next  day  we  passed  a very  hostile  town  on  the  penin- 
sula formed  by  the  junction  of  a small  river  with  the  Loika, 
and  by  nine  o’clock  we  reached  the  Lubi  cataract  in  2°  50' 
north  latitude.  This  cataract  we  found  was  quite  impassable, 
and  after  taking  a few  observations,  and  wooding  up  on  an 
island  remarkable  for  its  orchids,  we  set  out  on  our  return 
to  the  Congo  once  more.  Everything  was  quiet  enough 
going  down  river ; it  was  only  at  one  or  two  of  the  places 
that  the  people  ran  away,  while  at  many  of  the  villages  that 
were  tenantless  as  we  passed  up,  we  were  able  to  enter  into 
communications,  and  have  a laugh  with  the  people  for  being 
so  foolish  as  to  run  away  from  harmless  folk  like  ourselves. 
At  one  place,  especially,  where,  on  our  way  up,  we  went 
ashore  to  get  some  firewood,  and  where,  in  return  for  the 
fright  we  gave  them,  which  made  them  run  away,  and  also 
for  their  trees  which  we  cut  down,  we  left  a fathom  or  tAvo  of 
cloth  on  the  ground,  they  were  very  cordial.  That  we  had 
given  them  something,  and  left  everj’thing  untouched,  was 
indisputable  evidence  of  our  being  “good.”  The  chief  of 
Mosaku,  who  made  such  an  undignified  retreat  when  startled 
by  the  steam,  also  gave  us  a welcome,  and  more  yams. 
Happy  it  was  for  us  that  the  people  were  so  friendly,  and 
food  so  plentiful  ; for  after  a good  reception  by  the  chief 
Monanga,  whose  town  was  on  the  Congo,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Loika,  it  was  a long  while  before  we  were  among 
friends  again. 

‘ At  Monungeri,  which  is  about  thirty  miles  beyond  the 
Loika,  we  were  greatly  surprised  at  the  unfriendly  attitude 
of  the  people.  We  were  again  surprised  when  we  reached 
Yasaka,  another  thirty  miles  further  on,  to  find  the  people 
behaving  in  the  same  inhospitable  way ; but  we  did  not 
venture  in  their  town,  and  were  soon  on  our  way  once  more. 

‘ I scarcely  thought  of  this  matter  again  till  we  were  steaming 
into  Basoko  (where  the  great  Aruwimi  attack  on  Stanley  took 
place  in  1877),  and  could  not  see  the  expected  Expedition 
flag.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that  a hundred  or  more 
canoes,  all  laden  with  children  and  food,  were  running  away, 
that  all  the  beach  was  lined  with  fetishes,  and  that  the  men 


loo  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-<> 


were  all  armed  and  quite  ready  for  a fight,  convinced  me  that 
something  serious  had  happened,  and  that  it  behoved  us  to 
move  with  all  caution.  Steering  for  the  chief’s  place,  but 
keeping  well  out  of  spear-throw,  we  went  along  the  beach 

inquiring  for  the 
white  man’s  child- 
ren. No  one  vouch- 
safed a word  till 
we  reached  the 
head-man’s  place, 
and  then  they  told 
us  that  they  were 
afraid  we  were 
enemies,  and  so 
had  tied  these  men 
up  as  hostages  for 
our  good  behav- 
iour. We  then  re- 
plied, “Very  well ; 
bring  one  of  the 
men  to  the  beach 
that  we  may  see 
him,  and  we  will 
at  once  go  away.” 
Off  they  started  as 
though  to  bring 
one  of  them,  but 
no  one  came.  In 
fact,  the  whole 
business  wore  such 


a very  suspicious 
air  that  we  did  not 
for  a moment  be- 
lieve in  it.  However,  no  one  coming,  we  were  justified  in 
asking  reproachfully  that  they  should  keep  their  promise  and 
bring  the  man.  Then  followed  a lot  of  verbal  wriggling  of 
a most  unsatisfactory  kind,  and  the  statement  that  the  men 
were  not  there,  but  at  the  next  town  up  river.  (Basoko  was 


I'HE  CHIEF  OK  liASOKO 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884  (!  loi 


at  the  mouth  of  the  Mbinga,  or  Aruwimi  river.)  Upon  our 
reaching  the  indicated  place,  we  were  told  that  the  Hausas 
were  at  a village  on  the  other  side,  and  there  we  were  referred 
back  again  to  Basoko.  Here  we  made  further  inquiries  at 
the  chief’s  place,  but  the  result  only  strengthened  our  fears 
that  the  men  were  dead.  We  afterwards  learned  for  certain 
that  two  had  been  killed  and  eaten,  and  that  the  third,  who 
is  now  at  Bangala,  only  escaped  because  he  was  too  thin  for 
their  immediate  purpose,  and  thus  enjoyed  a respite  which 
gave  him  an  opportunity  to  escape.  In  the  light  of  the  fact 
of  the  white  man’s  men  having  been  killed,  our  bad  reception 
at  Monungeri  and  Yasaka  was  understandable  ; the  people 
thought  we  knew  all  about  what  had  happened,  and  feared 
that  we  should  make  reprisals. 

‘ It  was  not  with  very  pleasant  feelings  that  we  camped 
that  evening,  some  four  miles  away,  being  compelled  to  cut 
firewood,  especially  as  we  were  followed  by  a couple  of  canoes, 
which  kept  up  constant  communications  with  their  base  by 
means  of  the  big  drums  they  carried.  What  with  our  anxiety 
not  to  contribute  personally  to  the  food  supply  of  our 
neighbours,  our  watchfulness  for  fear  of  a night  attack,  and 
the  horridly  threatening  din  kept  up  by  the  big  drums,  our 
sleep  was  none  of  the  soundest  ; we  were  up  betimes  in  the 
morning,  ready  to  be  off  as  soon  as  there  was  light  enough. 

‘ During  that  day  we  saw  no  towns  ; we  therefore  promised 
ourselves  a quiet  night.  Late  in  the  afternoon  we  saw  what 
we  took  to  be  the  light  of  the  salt-makers’  fires  ahead  ; we 
therefore  anchored  rather  earlier  than  usual,  that  we  might  be 
out  of  range  of  the  drumming  which  we  should  have  to 
endure,  did  we  but  venture  within  earshot.  Shortly  after 
midnight  we  learned  that  what  we  had  taken  to  be  the  light 
of  the  salt-makers’  fires,  had  been  the  flames  of  a burning 
town.  A long  line  of  canoes  came  dropping  down  stream 
close  in  shore,  running  away  from  a band  of  Arab  raiders  in 
pursuit  of  slaves  and  ivory.  While  talking  with  these  poor 
people,  wreckage  of  all  kinds  commenced  floating  by,  and  for 
nearly  three  hours  afterwards  a continuous  stream  of  house- 
roofs,  beds,  stools,  calabashes,  fishing-nets,  ropes,  and  all 


102  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1884-H 


the  floatable  gear  that  had  been  thrown  into  the  river,  partly 
from  the  town,  and  partly  out  of  the  canoes  by  those  run- 
aways w ho  found  themselves  hardly  pressed,  or  out  of  those 
captured  by  the  Arabs,  who  would  not  be  bothered  with 
such  plunder.  In  the  morning,  after  a short  run  of  eight  or 
ten  miles,  and  passing  some  hundreds  of  canoes  with  home- 
less families  afloat  in  them,  we  reached  the  smoking  ruins 
of  Yambuli,  a town  of  three  or  four  thousand  inhabitants. 

‘ A little  further  on  we  came  to  a small  town  which  had 
been  quite  destroyed,  but  from  among  the  still  smoking  ruins 
one  of  the  men  who  had  ventured  back  hailed  us,  and 
holding  out  his  open  hands  before  him,  said  : “ See,  we  have 
nothing  left,  nothing ! ” Then  pointing  to  the  charred  post, 
“ Sec  what  has  happened : our  houses  burnt,  plantations 
destroyed,  our  wives  and  children  all  gone.”  Then,  pointing 
across  the  islands  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  he  said  ; 
“ The  men  who  did  it  all  are  over  there.”  The  utterly  woe- 
begone appearance  the  poor  fellow  presented,  surrounded  as 
he  was  with  such  evidences  of  ruin,  made  up  a picture  of 
desolation  which  once  seen  is  never  forgotten.  Nor  .shall  we 
forget  his  appeals  for  help.  He  seemed  to  think  it  would 
be  an  ea.sy  thing  for  the  white  man  to  go  and  fight  the 
Betamba-tamba,  or,  if  he  w'ould  not  fight,  he  could  easily 
ransom  their  wives  and  children.  If  we  once  commenced  to 
redeem  these  fruits  of  the  Arab  raids,  we  should  only  be 
setting  a premium  upon  raiding. 

‘ Crossing  the  river,  and  passing  more  burning  ruins,  we 
came  to  the  Arab  camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boloko  (Lomami). 
Here  we  found  them  making  ready  to  repel  an  expected 
attack,  by  posting  bodies  of  men  in  the  tall  grass  commanding 
the  approaches.  However,  they  seemed  to  recognize  very 
soon  that  we  were  not  fighting  men,  and  sent  off  a canoe 
to  us.  We  then  learned  that  they  were  seven  hundred 
strong,  under  the  command  of  Munya  Mani,  a vassal  of  the 
famous  Hamed  bin  Mohammed,  better  known  as  Tipu-tib. 

‘After  two  more  days’ journeying,  we  reached  our  turning- 
point,  Stanley  Falls.  These  were  two  days  full  of  sad  interest, 
an  the  which  we  pa.s.sed  thousands  of  fugitives,  and  a score  of 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  18S4-0  103 


villages,  whose  occupants  were  ready  to  fly  at  a moment’s 
notice,  having  their  goods  and  food  supplies  in  their  canoes, 
and  everything  prepared.  Most  of  the  people  seemed  to  sleep 
in  their  canoes,  in  case  of  a night  surprise ; during  the  day 
they  lived  ashore,  keeping  a canoe  or  two  continually  on  the 
watch,  in  the  best  positions  for  observing.  The  poor  women 
and  children  looked  upon  it  as  a very  bad  piece  of  business  to 
live  under  such  difficulties,  but  the  men  seemed  cheerful  enough.  - 
‘With  the  country  in  such  a state,  it  will  be  easily  imagined 


CONGO  STATE  FORT  AT  BASOKO 
( Built  to  check  the  advance  of  the  Arabs) 

that  there  was  no  food  to  be  bought.  As  we  had  been  able 
to  purchase  little  or  nothing  since  leaving  Loika  a week 
before,  we  were  running  short  again,  and  were  greatly  disap- 
pointed when  the  hoped-for  plenty  of  the  Falls  failed  us — 
especially  as  it  was  Christmas  time.’ 

On  Christmas  Eve  we  paid  a visit  to  Tipu-tib,  who  received 
us  very  hospitably,  and  asked  if  he  might  be  of  service  in 
forwarding  letters  to  Ujiji  or  the  East  Coast,  to  which  places 
he  sent  dispatches  every  fortnight  via  Nyangwe. 


104  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  188i-G 


‘Opening,  as  the  Congo  does,  such  vast  opportunities  for 
slave-raiding  along  its  thousands  of  miles  of  banks,  common 
humanity  claims  that  steps  should  be  tak^n  against  a scourge, 
the  bitterness  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  overdraw. 

‘ It  will  be  no  easy  task  to  stem  the  current  of  this  Arab 
invasion,  which  has  been  extending  westward  year  after  year, 
till  now  it  has  passed  the  median  line  of  the  continent.  We 
found  natives  fifty  miles  west  of  Stanley  Falls  who  could  talk 
Swahili,  a language  that  will  carry  the  traveller  from  that 
point  to  the  East  Coast.  The  way  is  open  for  canoes,  either 
up  or  down  from  Nyangwe  to  Leopoldville,  a distance  of  1,400 
miles.  How  far  this  Arab  conquest  is  to  push  itself  towards 
the  Atlantic  depends  upon  where  European  force  steps  in. 
The  natives  certainly  cannot  stem  the  current  of  invasion.’ 

From  Stanley  Falls,  Grenfell  dropped  back  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Lomami,  and  ascended  that  river.  The  river  was  very 
tortuous,  and  the  natives  in  many  places  very  hostile.  Under 
cover  of  the  arrow-guards,  he  made  his  way  in  safety.  He 
also  ascended  the  great  Mobangi,  the  mouth  of  which  he  had 
previously  discovered.  He  made  his  way  up  it  as  far  as  the 
Zongo  Cataract.  He  was  there  just  at  the  time  of  high  water, 
and  with  difficulty  was  able  to  pass  the  obstacle.  It  was  not 
safe  to  go  further,  for  a slight  fall  of  the  river  might  have  left 
him  unable  to  return.  Accordingly  he  turned  back  to  Stanley 
Pool,  with  his  stores  of  barter  quite  exhausted. 

Grenfell’s  discoveries  during  the  five  months  of  the  second 
voyage  of  the  Peace  widened  the  possibilities  of  the  work  on 
the  upper  river,  and  quickened  the  interest  of  the  friends  of 
the  Congo  Mission.  But  further  losses  were  to  make  the 
Congo  yet  more  dear  to  the  Churches  of  the  home  country, 
and  to  deepen  still  more  the  interest  in  the  work. 

Donald  Macmillan  reached  Underhill  on  December  24, 
j 884.  Born  on  Colonsay,  a small  island  to  the  south  of  the 
Inner  Hebrides,  a tender-hearted,  deeply  earnest  man,  he 
found  the  necessarily  slow  process  of  the  acquirement  of  the 
Congo  language  very  hard  to  bear.  He  longed  intensely  to 
declare  the  love  of  Jesus  to  the  people.  His  diary  evidenced 
the  chafing  of  his  spirit  under  the  enforced  delay.  Scarcely 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  105 


had  he  begun  to  make  headway  in  the  language,  when  the 
call  to  higher  service  came  to  him.  After  a few  days  of  fever, 
he  passed  away,  on  March  9,  1885. 

Andrew  Cruickshank  was  with  Whitley  at  Stanley  Pool, 
when  the  news  came  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Sidney  Comber. 
He  hurried  down  at  once  to  help  Darling  at  Wathen,  and 
remained  there  until  March,  1885.  After  four  days  of  haemo- 
globinuric  fever,  he  died  on  March  27.  He  was  a man  of 
great  promise  and  ability,  bright  and  full  of  energy ; his 
manner  had  an  indescribable  charm  which  none  could  resist. 

Alexander  Cowe  was  another  man  of  whom  great  things 
were  expected.  He  had  evidenced  much  spiritual  power  in 
evangelistic  work  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Berwick  before  he 
offered  for  Africa,  and  we  all  hoped  that  he  would  be  the 
rheans  of  leading  many  of  the  Congo  people  to  the  Saviour. 
Only  once,  however,  did  he  speak  to  them.  He  reached 
Banana  on  April  13,  1885,  and  San  Salvador  on  May  i. 
Twelve  days  later  he  was  attacked  by  fever.  A German 
exploring  party  was  at  San  Salvador  at  the  time,  endeavouring 
to  get  into  the  interior  thence.  Dr.  Wolff,  a member  of  that 
expedition,  was  good  enough  to  attend  Cowe  in  his  sickness  ; 
but  all  efforts  were  unavailing  ; from  the  second  day  he  was 
mostly  delirious,  and  on  May  21  he  died. 

David  Charters  and  W.  F.  Cottingham  reached  Banana  on 
May  1 1 . Charters  had  come  to  serve  as  missionary-engineer 
of  the  Peace,  and  passed  up  country.  He  stayed  a while 
at  Bayneston  to  take  charge  of  the  station,  before  he  could 
be  released  to  go  on  to  Stanley  Pool  for  the  steamer  work. 
Cottingham  had  to  stay  at  Underhill,  to  take  the  place  of 
Macmillan.  On  the  eighth  day  after  his  arrival  there,  he 
went  down  with  a fever  which  lasted  a week.  Six  days  later, 
the  fever  returned  in  a mild  form,  and  the  next  day,  June  6, 
the  temperature  suddenly  rose  high.  Dr.  Wolff  happened  to 
be  there,  and  he  did  his  best ; but  in  the  evening  Cottingham 
died.  He  was  singularly  well  qualified  for  the  work,  clear- 
headed, and  very  devoted  ; his  earnest,  gentle  ways  would  have 
soon  endeared  him  to  the  natives,  but  the  Master  called  him. 

This  rapid  succession  of  losses — four  men  in  three  months — 

VOL.  II.  H 


io6  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


came  as  a great  shock  to  us  on  the  field,  and  to  the  friends 
at  home.  The  deaths  were  regarded  as  solemn  and  sacred 
appeals  for  more  whole-hearted  consecration,  and  the  personal 
devotion  of  health  and  strength  to  the  blessed  enterprise. 
The  Secretary  of  our  Society  received  many  letters  urging 
that  the  places  rendered  vacant  should  be  promptly  filled,  and 
the  work  prosecuted  with  energy.  Numerous  offers  for  mission 
service  on  the  Congo  came  in,  which  were  in  many  cases  im- 
pelled by  the  recent  losses.  Here  and  there  voices  were  raised 
protesting  at  the  ‘waste’  of  life,  but  they  were  happily  few. 
It  was  felt  that  although  the  work  on  the  Congo  was  a very 
serious  undertaking,  it  was  work  to  which  God  was  calling  us ; 
and  those  who  offered  for  it  must  count  the  cost ; but  having 
counted  it,  they  should  go  prepared  for  all  that  might  come. 

When  Gordon  was  shut  up  in  Khartoum,  there  was  a rush 
of  volunteers  ready  to  go  to  his  relief.  Whenever  there  is 
an  expedition,  fraught  with  danger,  to  be  organized,  men  are 
ready  to  take  part  in  it.  Men  are  ready  to  face  these  dangers 
in  the  interests  of  commerce  and  geographical  science,  and 
for  military  glory.  Should  the  Christian  Church  then  stand 
back,  because  there  are  danger  and  difficulty  in  carrying  out 
her  Lord’s  command  to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  make 
disciples  of  all  the  nations?  He  made  no  exception  of 
tropical  Africa,  neither  indeed  could  we,  when  all  Europe  was 
scrambling  for  it,  and  occupying  it  too.  There  could  be  no 
hanging  back ; but  every  effort  should  be  made  to  prevent 
un7iecessary  waste  of  life.  Better  houses,  better  food,  more 
comfort,  more  help — these  things  were  possible,  and  should  be 
provided  ; the  Committee  were  resolved  to  provide  them  as 
soon  as  possible.  Dr.  Prosser  James,  a warm  friend  of  the 
mission,  wrote  Thomas  Comber  a series  of  letters  on  Health 
on  the  Congo,  which  were  printed  and  published  by  the. 
Society.  Dr.  Frederick  Roberts,  the  medical  adviser  of 
the  Society,  also  wrote  a manual,  A Guide  to  Hygieiie  and 
Medical  Ti'eatment  for  the  Congo,  which  the  Society  also  pub- 
lished. Mr.  Charles  Townsend,  of  Bristol,  presented  to  each 
station  a large  dispensing  cabinet,  well  supplied  with  drugs. 
Everything  possible  was  done  to  obviate  the  loss  of  life. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  107 


Thomas  Comber  had  been  in  England  only  seven  months 
to  recruit  his  health  ; seven  months  with  little  of  rest  in  them, 
for  he  was  in  great  request  all  over  the  country,  so  many 
were  anxious  to  hear  the  story  of  his  work  from  his  own 
lips.  When  the  news  of  the  losses  came,  he  felt  that  he 
must  return  at  once  to  the  Congo,  and  sailed  from  Liverpool 
on  August  19.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  brother  Percy 
and  four  other  colleagues,  J.  E.  Biggs,  Philip  Davies,  B.A., 
J.  Maynard,  and  Michael  Richards. 

On  April  13  Comber  had  read  a paper  of  great  interest 
before  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  giving  an  account 
of  his  journey  up  the  Congo  with  Grenfell  as  far  as  Bangala 
the  previous  year. 

The  negotiations  with  the  European  Powers  and  the  United 
States  of  America  necessary  to  the  founding  of  the  Congo  Free 
State  were  completed  ; the  King  of  the  Belgians  received  the 
authorization  of  his  Chambers  to  assume  the  sovereignty  of 
the  State  on  April  28.  On  July  i,  1885,  the  Etat  Independant 
du  Congo  was  proclaimed  at  Banana,  with  all  due  ceremony, 
by  Sir  Francis  de  Winton.  On  the  same  day  the  General 
Secretary  of  our  Society,  Mr.  A.  H.  Baynes,  had  a special 
audience  of  H.M.  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  at  the  palace 
at  Ostend,  and  presented  an  address  of  congratulation  to 
His  Majesty,  upon  the  establishment  of  the  new  Congo 
Free  State,  from  the  Committee  and  officers  of  the  Baptist 
Missionary  Society.  His  Majesty  very  graciously  received 
Mr.  Baynes,  and  expressed  his  high  satisfaction  at  the  terms 
of  the  address,  and  at  the  visit  of  the  Secretary  ; the  king 
assured  him  of  his  personal  anxiety  to  do  all  within  his 
power  to  further  all  efforts  put  forth  for  the  benefit  and 
upraising  of  the  millions  of  down-trodden  Africa. 

Jn  August,  1885,  Grenfell  started  on  another  voyage  of 
exploration  in  the  Peace.  Just  above  the  Equator  a river 
of  black  water  poured  into  the  Congo  on  the  left  bank,  the 
Uluki,  and  forty  miles  further  north  the  Lulongo  flowed  in 
on  the  same  bank.  Grenfell’s  intention  was  to  explore  these 
rivers,  and  to  ascertain  the  possibilities  of  mission  work  on 
them.  It  is  best  to  let  Grenfell  tell  the  story. 

H 2 


io8  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


‘ We  started  on  August  8.  Our  ship’s  company  was  much 
the  same  as  on  our  previous  voyage,  for  the  crew  was  but 
little  changed,  and  I had  my  wife  and  child  and  eight  of  the 
same  school-children  on  board.  I need  not  recount  how  in 
due  time  we  reached  Mswata,  Kwa  Mouth,  and  the  other 
principal  points. 

‘We  had  passed  Lukolela,  and  were  steaming  along  almost 
under  the  trees  at  llebo,  when  we  were  startled  by  finding 
ourselves  within  a few  feet  of  the  corpse  of  a woman,  which 
hung  over  the  water  from  one  of  the  branches.  It  is  not 
at  all  infrequent  that  one,  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings, 
comes  across  the  remains  of  men  exhibited  as  warnings  to 
evildoers,  but  this  was  the  first  time  I came  across  those 
of  a woman.  In  fact,  for  such  an  offence  as  that  for  which 
this  poor  woman  suffered,  1 have  never  heard  of  such  extreme 
measures  being  resorted  to.  It  seems  that  her  townspeople 
had  got  it  into  their  heads  that  by  charging  the  white 
man  only  double  what  they  charged  among  themselves  for 
chickens  and  eggs,  and  such  like  things,  that  they  were 
neglecting  an  opportunity  for  the  making  of  extra  profits  ; 
so  they  made  a law,  attaching  the  death  penalty  to  the 
breaking  of  it,  to  meet  the  case — an  absurd  law,  which  only 
prevented  the  white  man  from  buying.  This  poor  woman 
thought  it  better  to  be  content  with  a good  profit,  than  to 
insist  upon  a big  one  and  get  nothing,  but  in  getting  her 
profit  she  lost  her  life.  These  llebo  people  were  evidently 
terribly  in  earnest  concerning  their  “ law,”  for  women  have 
always  a marketable  value,  and  are  generally  sold  away  as 
a punishment  for  their  offences. 

‘ The  following  day,  after  a total  of  eighty  hours’  steaming, 
we  reached  Equatorville,  where  we  stayed  a few  days,  laying 
in  a stock  of  food  and  firewood. 

‘ A fortnight  after  leaving  Arthington  found  us  on  our  way 
from  Equator  Station  to  the  Lulongo  river,  which  falls  into 
the  Congo  about  forty-five  miles  north  of  the  line.  Although 
the  Lulongo  is  by  no  means  one  of  the  largest  tributaries 
of  the  Congo,  it  is,  if  the  value  of  its  ivory  and  slave  trade  be 
accepted  as  the  measure,  its  most  important. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS4-6  109 


‘ At  the  confluence,  this  river  gives  no  adequate  promise 
of  its  real  value  as  a waterway,  for  it  has  only  a width  of 
600  yards  or  so  ; however,  its  depth  and  current  made 
up  for  what  it  lacks  in  breadth,  and  after  ascending  its 
course  for  a few  miles,  we  found  it  occupying  a channel  of 
from  half  to  three-quarters  of  a mile  in  width. 

‘ Shortly  before  noon  on  our  first  day,  we  reached  the  very 
friendly  town  of  Bolongo,  and  anchored  in  the  rocky  baylet 
under  the  little  cliff  on  which  the  town  was  perched,  from 
which  the  people  looked  down  wonderingly  upon  us  as 
we  took  our  lunch,  and  at  the  same  time  carried  on  a small 
provision  trade  with  our  people,  by  the  aid  of  long  forked 
sticks. 

‘ Twelve  miles  further  on  we  came  to  the  first  of  the 
important  Lulongo  towns,  a place  of  perhaps  eight  or  ten 
thousand  inhabitants.  Ten  miles  further  brought  us  to 
another  of  these  towns  of  nearly  equal  size.  These  places, 
though  built  on  the  best  available  sites,  are  badly  situated  on 
islands  and  the  adjacent  land,  and  must  all  be  liable  at  certain 
seasons  to  be  flooded.  J ust  as  we  got  close  to  Boina,  we  almost 
dropped  into  the  middle  of  one  of  their  palavers.  We  were 
greatly  surprised,  on  suddenly  rounding  a point,  to  find  our- 
selves within  a boat’s  length  of  a fleet  of  a dozen  canoes  full  of 
armed  men,  hideous  in  paint  and  feathers,  and  evidently  bent 
on  mischief.  We  thought  at  first  that  they  might  be  out 
as  a demonstration  against  ourselves,  but  they  were  friendly 
enough  ; still,  we  could  not  understand  their  movements, 
for  as  we  came  up  alongshore  they  dodged  behind  us,  and 
at  times  kept  us  between  themselves  and  the  mainland.  But 
coming  at  last  to  a small  water  point  where  we  shot  ahead 
of  them,  we  had  it  all  explained.  No  sooner  were  they 
uncovered  by  the  steamer,  than  we  were  startled  by  the 
report  of  a gun  from  the  shore,  and  when  we  saw  the  crew  of 
one  of  the  canoes  floundering  in  the  water,  and  heard  the 
return  fire  from  another  canoe,  we  were  selfish  enough  to  feel 
relieved  by  this  evidence  that  the  hostility  was  not  directed 
against  ourselves.  However,  nothing  serious  seemed  to  come 
of  it,  for  the  crew  got  into  the  canoe  again,  and  the  fleet 


no  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS4-6 


moved  ofif  in  a disappointed  sort  of  way,  apparently  in  no 
very  good  humour  with  itself. 

‘The  next  day  we  reached  Inwambala,  a town  built  partly 
on  an  island,  and  partly  on  the  mainland — an  arrangement 
which  allowed  of  safe  retreat,  whether  attacked  from  the  river 
or  from  the  interior.  Slaves  are  too  much  in  demand  to 
allow  of  much  security  at  so  short  a distance  from  Lulongo. 
The  next  town  we  came  to  was  evidently  the  home  of 
people  of  a different  tribe.  Hitherto  the  inhabitants  have 
been  riverine  in  their  habits,  and  as  much  at  home  on  water 
as  on  land  : here  they  were  evidently  landsmen. 

‘In  the  next  hundred  miles  between  Masumba  and  Maringa 
we  only  found  the  small  town  of  Lungunda  ; but  as  soon  as 
Maringa  was  reached,  we  entered  upon  a very  populous  dis- 
trict. Although  we  were  travelling  through  such  a cheerless 
range  of  country,  we  knew  by  the  number  of  trading  canoes 
we  encountered,  that  we  were  coming  to  an  important  dis- 
trict. Some  of  these  canoes  passed  fearlessly  enough  ; the 
crews  of  others  disembarked  as  soon  as  they  caught  sight  of 
us,  and  took  their  cargo  away  into  the  bush.  We  counted  ten 
tusks  of  ivory  hurried  ofif  in  one  case.  Among  the  canoes 
we  met,  one  had  several  tusks  and  six  slaves ; another  con- 
tained ten  or  twelve  tusks  and  two  slaves ; we  did  not  get  close 
enough  to  the  others  to  make  out  what  cargoes  they  had. 

‘ At  Maringa  we  had  some  little  difficulty  to  convince  the 
people  of  our  friendly  intentions ; and  it  was  not  till  more 
than  an  hour  had  been  spent  in  diplomacy,  that  we  came 
into  actual  contact  with  them  ; they  had  not  sufficient  con- 
fidence in  us  then  to  come  without  their  spears,  or  to  allow 
their  women  and  children  to  come  down  to  the  beach.  They 
feared  lest  we  should  follow  the  policy  of  the  native  traders 
who  come  from  lower  down  the  river,  and  who,  if  they  think 
themselves  strong  enough,  seek  a quarrel,  and  having  found 
it,  make  it  a pretext  for  catching  some  one  whom  they  can 
sell  as  a slave.  However,  the  three  or  four  hundred  armed 
men  were  all  eager  to  sell  food  and  firewood,  and  we  were 
soon  enabled  to  load  up  and  go  ahead  once  more. 

‘An  hour  and  a half  brought  us  to  a small  friendly  town. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  iii 


which  we  reached  when  it  was  nearly  dark.  In  approaching 
it  we  unfortunately  sank  our  small  boat,  and  lost  most  of  the 
fine  load  of  firewood  it  contained.  The  natives  were  good 
enough  to  help  us  save  what  we  could,  and  in  the  morning 
assisted  us  to  raise  our  sunken  boat,  a task  that  occupied  us 
nearly  four  hours.  After  getting  under  way  once  more,  an 
hour  brought  us  to  a large  market ; half  an  hour  further  on  we 
came  to  a town ; and  in  two  hours  more,  after  passing  many 


food  - laden 
to  the  beach 
Ditabi.  Here 
very  mani- 
those  we  had 
them  inhabit- 


canoes,  and  many  paths  down 
from  inland  towns,  we  reached 
the  peculiarities  of  the  people 
festly  separated  them  from 
met  lower  down.  We  found 
ing  houses  raised  on  posts  some 
four  or  five  feet  above  the  ground,  though  there  appeared  to 
be  no  reason  why,  in  the  position  they  occupied,  they  should 
fear  a flood.  Their  tribal  marks,  too,  were  very  distinctly  diffe- 
rent ; for  here  we  found  them  with  a row  of  lumps  as  big  as  peas 
right  down  their  noses,  and  with  their  bodies  covered  with  bean- 
sized cicatrices  about  an  inch  apart.  Instead  of  their  being 
armed  with  spears  and  sheathed  knives,  they  carried  bows  and 
arrows,  and  wore  naked-bladed  knives  upon  their  thighs.  Here 
at  Ditabi  the  people  were  evidently  industrious,  for  we  saw 
several  blacksmiths  fresh  from  their  forges,  and  were  able 
to  buy  specimens  of  their  newly  smelted  iron.  The  people 
were  very  anxious  to  purchase  the  beads  we  offered  for  fire- 
wood ; so  anxious,  indeed,  that  after  having  exhausted  their 
wood-piles,  they  brought  the  live  sticks  from  their  fires,  and 


1 12  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1884-6 


when  these  were  done,  cut  up  their  wooden  beds  into  suitable 
lengths  and  sold  them.  After  starting  once  more,  four  miles 
brought  us  to  Bauru,  another  four  to  Bepula,  and  then  on  to 
Diloko.  At  this  last,  and  at  all  the  towns  beyond,  the  reason 
for  the  houses  being  raised  on  posts  was  very  apparent ; 
a rise  of  four  or  five  inches  of  water  would  have  inundated 
the  whole  district. 

‘ Passing  several  more  low  towns,  we  came  to  an  important 
market,  but  saw  no  exchange  of  European  goods,  nor  were 
there  any  but  the  slightest  signs  of  communication  with 
civilization  ; these  were  found  in  a little  brass  beaten  into 
ornaments,  and  a few  beads  and  cowries.  But  if  there  was 
nothing  which  a trader  would  count  as  commerce,  there  was 
no  lack  of  barter  ; for  the  people  on  the  low  banks  of  the 
river  catch  fish  and  crocodiles,  and  exchange  them  for  the 
fruits  of  the  soil  brought  down  by  the  people  from  the  interior. 
Cloth  we  found  to  be  of  little  or  no  value;  an  empty  biscuit-tin, 
or  a thimbleful  of  beads,  went  further  than  a fathom  of  print. 

‘ After  passing  seven  more  villages  in  as  many  miles,  we 
saw  no  more,  though  we  went  on  for  a hundred  miles  beyond. 
We  passed  several  abandoned  sites,  and  many  paths  coming 
down  to  the  water  from  towns  in  the  distance ; here  and 
there  we  saw  a few  people  in  canoes,  but  these  were  all.  We 
had  pushed  on  in  the  hope  of  reaching  other  towns  ; but 
at  a point  nearly  400  miles  from  the  Congo,  we  found 
that  the  river  became  unnavigable,  and  were  compelled  to 
turn  back.  To  return  with  the  current  in  our  favour  was  an 
easy  task,  for  we  descended  in  less  than  a week,  what  it  had 
taken  us  more  than  a fortnight  to  ascend. 

‘ Upon  our  reaching  the  Congo  once  more,  our  interpreters 
wanted  to  go  home  without  more  ado  ; they  were  greatly 
disappointed  when,  after  going  south  for  six  hours,  we  turned 
eastward  once  more,  to  ascend  Mr.  Stanley’s  Black  river,  the 
Uruki.  Towards  evening  we  came  to  an  important  town  on 
the  summit  of  a small  rocky  cliff,  and  though  we  were  not 
welcomed  very  heartily  at  first,  we  were  after  a while  enabled 
to  • come  to  an  understanding,  and  to  enter  upon  friendly 
relationships. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  113 


‘ The  news  of  our  having  made  friends  at  Ikembo  reached 
Ikua,  two  miles  further  on,  before  we  did,  and  secured  for  us 
a welcome ; but  as  it  was  nearly  dark,  we  anchored  off 
a sandbank  opposite  the  town,  and  promised  to  pay  another 
visit  in  the  morning.  Two  miles  further  on  we  came  to 
Isenge ; another  two  miles  and  we  were  at  Bokomo,  where 
we  had  again  a pleasant  hour  with  the  people.  Here,  how- 
ever, we  left  the  circle  of  friends  we  made  when  we  overcame 
the  prejudices  of  the  Ikembo  people,  and  had  to  commence 
afresh  some  thirty  miles  beyond,  at  a point  about  twelve 
miles  up  the  Bosira,  which  by  that  time  we  had  entered. 
This  was  too  far  for  a good  report  concerning  us  to  have 
spread,  and  it  cost  us  three  hours  and  a lot  of  manoeuvring 
before  we  were  allowed  to  take  the  Peace  close  inshore. 
We  did  not  buy  all  the  food  they  brought;  we  had  to  “ draw 
the  line”  somewhere,  so  we  drew  it  at  smoked  snakes  and 
caterpillars — they  seemed  to  think  us  over-particular.  Not- 
withstanding our  being  able  to  accomplish  so  much,  we  were 
unable  to  elicit  the  name  of  the  town ; they  were  afraid  we 
should  work  some  charm  to  their  detriment,  did  we  but 
possess  it.  As  we  got  beyond  the  range  of  our  first  “ peace- 
making,” so  we  also  got  beyond  that  of  our  second  ; and  at 
a point  forty  miles  beyond,  at  Ebundi  Njoki,  we  had  to  go 
through  it  all  again.  But,  having  succeeded,  the  people  at 
the  next  town,  Mumbembe,  were  easily  reconciled,  and  we  were 
able  to  spend  three  or  four  hours  there  before  going  on  again. 

‘Upon  leaving  Mumbembe,  we  found  the  aspect  of  the 
country  greatly  changed.  Instead  of  rocky  promontories  here 
and  there,  with  towns  built  on  them,  the  country  was  reduced 
to  one  monotonous  level  near  the  water-mark  ; sometimes 
just  a little  above,  but  by  far  the  greater  proportion  of  that 
bordering  the  river  was  a foot  or  two  below.  We  found  in 
the  eighty  miles  or  so  for  which  the  river  was  further  navi- 
gable, no  more  towns  on  the  banks,  but  we  came  across  the 
inhabitants  of  Tako,  Bunginji,  and  Mburi,  who  came  down  to 
the  river-side  at  different  points. 

‘ On  the  morning  of  the  following  day  we  encountered  the 
natives  of  Mburi,  and  managed  to  appease  them  after  but 


1 14  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


very  short  overtures  ; those  of  Eyile,  however,  received  us  at 
once  with  a flight  of  arrows,  and  then  wanted  us  to  come  in 
close  and  sell  beads,  as  we  had  done  to  the  Bunginji  and 
Mburi  people,  I did  not  mind  stopping  to  talk  to  them,  so 
long  as  we  kept  out  of  the  range  of  their  arrows  ; we  had 
often  been  shot  at  from  the  towns  and  open  spaces,  where 
we  could  see  what  was  being  done,  but  it  was  a different 
thing  going  in  alongside  the  bush,  which  had  hidden  those 
who  had  only  made  their  presence  known  by  their  hostility. 
A little  further  on  we  were  surprised  by  more  arrows  out  of 
the  forest,  and  I began  to  think  it  time  to  turn  back,  and 
determined  to  do  so  before  noon;  but  at  11.23  found 
ourselves  at  the  end  of  the  navigable  portion  of  the  river, 
and  unable  to  go  further. 

‘Arrived  at  the  point  where  the  Bosira  and  Juapa  unite,  we 
turned  eastward  once  more,  and  were  gratified  to  find  that 
good  news  concerning  us  had  travelled  overland,  across  the 
narrow  peninsula  which  separates  the  lower  reaches  of  these 
two  rivers.  This  good  report  secured  us  friendly  receptions 
at  all  the  towns  for  the  first  fifty  miles  or  so  ; but  during  the 
following  forty  they  were  suspicious,  though  not  hostile.  At 
Bumbimbe,  which  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east 
of  Equator  Station  on  the  Congo,  we  found  one  of  the  prettiest 
stretches  of  country  we  saw  during  the  whole  of  our  journey. 
Here,  after  a while,  we  managed  to  induce  the  people  to  allow 
us  to  go  close  in  shore  ; and  again,  after  a while,  they  became 
cordial.  We  always  succeeded  in  getting  friendly,  if  they 
would  only  allow  us  to  get  close  enough  for  them  to  have 
a good  look  at  us.  In  fact,  so  cordial  did  our  Bumbimbe 
friends  become,  that  they  wanted  us  to  stop  and  build,  or  to 
come  again  and  do  so. 

‘ About  twenty-five  miles  on  beyond,  we  reached  Eyombe, 
where  a very  hostile  demonstration  was  made.  It  was  very 
evident  that  it  was  only  a section  of  the  people  who  made 
the  disturbance,  for  we  saw  two  of  the  most  violent  demon- 
strators, who  wanted  to  shoot,  get  a good  thrashing  from 
their  more  sober-minded  comrades  for  their  pains. 

‘ By  nine  o’clock  the  next  day  we  knew,  by  the  terrible  din 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS4-6  115 


of  several  big  drums,  that  we  were  approaching  a large  town. 
We  were  not  long  before  we  came  in  sight  of  from  two  to 
three  hundred  armed  men,  painted  red  and  black  and  white, 
dancing  frantically.  We  felt  sure,  from  the  appearance  of 
things,  and  from  the  persistency  with  which  they  sent  flights 
of  arrows  at  us,  that  it  would  be  a waste  of  time  to  lay 
a prolonged  “ siege,”  so  we  took  up  anchor  again  and  got  well 
behind  our  arrow-guards,  and  very  much  startled  the  warriors 
by  going  in  comparatively  close.  We  then  proceeded  to  tell 
them  that  they  were  treating  us  very  badly  to  fight  us  in  that 
way  ; but  that,  to  show  them  we  had  only  friendly  intentions, 
we  would  throw  them  a present  of  a few  beads  tied  up  in 
a fathom  cloth,  and  then  go  away.  However,  our  present 
was  all  in  vain,  for  we  found  them  just  as  fierce  when  we 
returned ; we  counted  our  failure  on  going  up,  as  the  reason 
why  we  should  try  all  the  more  persistently  on  our  return  ; 
and  this  was  the  only  place  where  we  set  ourselves  to  the 
task,  and  did  not  eventually  succeed. 

‘ Fifteen  miles  or  so  on  beyond,  we  got  among  the  Lokuku 
people,  and  for  a couple  of  days  our  progress  was  among 
friends  ; then  once  more  we  were  among  timid  folk,  but  soon 
passed  them  to  reach  our  Lusaka  acquaintances,  among  whom 
we  spent  a very  satisfactory  couple  of  days.  As  soon,  how- 
ever, as  we  had  passed  their  limits,  we  found  ourselves  among 
determined  enemies,  who  laid  an  ambush  at  a narrow  pass  ; 
they  succeeded  in  very  much  astonishing  us  with  an  unexpected 
flight  of  arrows,  one  of  which  stuck  into  the  woodwork  just 
between  my  wife  and  myself ; another  struck  the  awning,  and 
came  a foot  through  its  thin  planking  ; another  went  through 
the  galley  window,  right  amongst  the  pots  and  pans  ; several 
very  narrowly  missed  one  or  other  of  our  party.  But  before  we 
were  recovered  from  our  surprise,  we  had,  with  God’s  good 
favour,  safely  run  the  gauntlet,  and  were  away  into  wide 
water  again,  where  we  could  not  be  reached  from  either  shore. 
This  was  the  first  time  during  the  journey  that  we  had  been 
attacked  with  poisoned  arrows,  and  as  there  is  a great  deal  of 
difference  between  a clean-cut  wound  and  a poisoned  one,  the 
risk  appealed  to  us  very  forcibly  ; so  forcibly,  indeed,  that 


ii6  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S4-6 


when,  towards  evening,  we  were  met  with  a similar  reception, 
we  just  turned  round,  and  started  homeward,  after  having 
journeyed  more  than  400  miles  up  the  Juapa,  and  over  nearly 
1,000  miles  of  new  waterway.’ 

The  Peace  arrived  back  at  the  Pool  in  October,  1885;  she 
had  then  to  be  docked.  Before  that  was  finished  a tornado  of 
unusual  violence  came.  It  overturned  one  of  the  workmen’s 
houses,  one  of  the  stores  in  which  Comber’s  personal  goods 
were  being  kept,  and  nearly  wrecked  the  steamer  workshop. 
All  this  gave  the  men  work  at  high  pressure  for  eighteen  days. 

When  this  was  done  the  news  came  that  Comber  and  his 
party  had  reached  Banana  on  October  6.  After  all  the  loss 
of  life  and  trouble.  Comber  was  most  anxious  to  see  the  new 
colleagues  who  had  come  out  with  him  safely  and  comfort- 
ably settled  on  their  stations.  He  therefore  accompanied 
them  himself  on  the  journey  up  country,  leaving  Maynard  and 
Philip  Davies  at  Banana  for  a month.  As  soon  as  possible 
he  started  with  the  other  three ; his  brother  Percy  and 
Richards  were  settled  at  Wathen,  which  was  to  be  his  own 
home.  He  felt  that  from  there  he  could  more  conveniently 
attend  to  the  affairs  of  the  mission,  and  hoped  to  do  the  work 
of  translating  the  New  Testament.  Grenfell  and  I were  to 
be  on  the  upper  river,  and  our  experience  would  aid  the  new 
missionaries  who  would  come  out  for  the  forward  work.  Such 
were  the  plans  and  hopes  at  this  time. 

Having  seen  his  brother  Percy  and  Richards  safe  in  their 
new  home.  Comber  went  on  to  Stanley  Pool  with  Biggs,  reach- 
ing there  on  November  13.  There  was  a hearty  greeting  from 
Grenfell  and  Whitley,  much  to  talk  over,  and  many  plans  to 
make.  He  stayed  there  a week  or  two,  and  returned  to 
Wathen.  There  he  received  the  distressing  news  of  the  death 
of  his  sister  Carrie,  Mrs.  Wright  Hay,  at  Victoria,  Cameroons, 
on  November  28.  The  steamer  by  which  he  came  out  had 
touched  at  Victoria,  so  he  had  seen  her  well  and  strong  in  the 
end  of  September  ; now  came  the  news  of  her  death.  It  was 
a very  sore  trial  to  him. 

On  January  21,  i886,  Comber  was  back  again  at  Underhill, 
accompanied  on  the  road  by  Darling,  who  was  to  be  located 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISSi-d  117 


there  with  Moolenaar.  Davies  had  gone  up  to  San  Salvador. 
Maynard  had  a mild  attack  of  fever  for  the  first  time  the  day 
before  Comber’s  arrival.  The  fever  was  rather  troublesome  ; 
but  it  was  hoped  that  with  the  careful  nursing  and  attention 
which  he  was  receiving,  it  would  pass  off  as  usual.  On  the 
sixth  day  he  became  very  weak,  although  he  had  been  taking 
plenty  of  nourishment,  and  on  January  28  John  Maynard 
passed  away.  He  had  been  brought  up  in  Spurgeon’s  Orphan- 
age, and  as  he  had  lived  for  some  time  at  the  Cape,  it  was 
hoped  that  this  would,  in  a measure,  prove  a preparation  to 
his  Congo  life.  He  had  written  a month  before : ‘ I am 
perfectly  happy  in  my  work,  far  more  so  than  I could  ever 
have  anticipated.  This  Congo  Mission  is  indeed  a noble 
enterprise.  I thank  God  for  the 
honour  which  He  has  put  upon 
me  in  permitting  me  to  engage  in 
it.  My  great  wonder  is  that  hun- 
dreds of  young  men  at  home  do 
not  offer  themselves  for  it.  I would 
not  exchange  my  present  work 
for  any  other  in  the  world.’  He 
left  behind  him  the  sweet  savour 
of  an  unassuming  character  and 
a gentle  disposition. 

The  loss  was  rendered  the 
more  distressing  by  the  fact  that 
Miss  Pitt,  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  to  be  married,  was 
actually  on  the  way  out.  Weeks  was  returning  with  his  wife, 
and  brought  with  him  Miss  Pitt,  A.  E.  Scrivener,  and  Samuel 
Silvey.  Silvey  had  been  engaged  in  school  work  in  the 
Cameroons  until  we  were  obliged  to  transfer  our  mission  there 
to  the  Basle  Missionary  Society,  in  consequence  of  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  Cameroons  by  Germany.  Comber  went  down  to 
Banana  to  meet  them,  and  Miss  Pitt  returned  by  the  steamer 
which  brought  her  out.  When  the  Weeks  arrived.  Comber 
was  so  anxious  that  Mrs.  Weeks  should  safely  reach  her 
new  home  at  San  Salvador,  that  he  determined  to  conduct 
the  party  himself.  It  was  felt  that  Silvey’s  school  work 


ii8  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


in  the  Cameroons  would  make  him  specially  useful  at  San 
Salvador,  so  he  was  located  there,  and  formed  one  of  the 
party.  Comber  wrote ; — 

‘The  journey  from  Underhill  to  San  Salvador  lasts  usually 
six  or  seven  days,  and  is  sometimes  accomplished  in  four. 
We  took  eleven  days  over  it,  travelling  in  very  easy  stages 
for  the  sake  of  Mrs.  Weeks’s  health  and  comfort.  The 
result,  viz.  the  whole  party  arriving  in  good  health,  was 
worth  the  extra  time  taken  over  the  journey. 

‘ The  day  of  our  arrival  was  Saturday,  and  I was  very  glad 
to  have  the  opportunity  of  speaking  to  the  people  on  the 
Sunday.  The  services  are  held  in  a large  schoolroom,  instead 
of  under  the  old  tree.  This  schoolroom  was  well  filled  with 
people,  and  I had  a quiet  and  attentive  congregation,  speaking 
to  them  from  the  Parable  of  the  P'ig-tree,  spared  in  the  hope 
that  it  might  yet  bear  fruit.  I am  glad  to  say  that  we  found 
the  work  at  San  Salvador  in  a hopeful  condition.  Fifty-seven 
boys  are  in  the  school,  thirty  of  whom  are  residents  with  us. 
Our  old  staunch  friends,  D.  Manoel  Mantengo,  D.  Miguel 
Nedelengani,  Matoko,  D.  Alvaro  Mpanzu  Baku,  were  still 
staunch  and  true. 

‘ As  to  the  poor  old  king,  I could  find  out  little  about 
him,  being  only  a few  days  there,  and  very,  very  busy  all  the 
time.  I think  he  is  getting  more  and  more  involved  in  the 
complication  of  his  position,  and  he  is  beroyaled  more  than 
ever  before.  He  was  actually  too  royal  to  give  us  an  audience 
the  day  of  arrival.  He  has  “ gone  in  for  ” a new  and  special 
wife,  who  has  a position  above  all  the  rest,  being  called  queen, 
wearing  very  fine  clothes,  silks  and  velvets,  and  sitting  in 
a chair  by  his  side  while  he  receives  visitors.  With  all  this, 
the  old  man  was  un-get-at-able.  He  was  very  glad  to  see 
Weeks  back,  and  a lady  with  him  to  teach  the  girls,  who 
swarm  in  the  place,  and  was  also  very  glad  to  see  his  old 
friend,  Vianga-Vianga  (Comber).  He  also  kindly  welcomed 
Silvey.  Presents  were  naturally  interchanged,  the  occasion 
being  special. 

‘ On  the  Monday  morning,  March  29,  as  I notified  to  the 
people  on  the  Sunday,  we  proceeded  to  the  nearest  pool — 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884  - 6 119 


a mile  away — to  carry  out,  for  the  first  time  in  Congo,  the 
ordinance  of  believers’  baptism,  the  subject  being  my  boy 
William  Mantu  Parkinson.  He  has  been  a consistent  Christian 
for  two  years  or  more,  and  was  very  glad  when  I proposed 
that  he  should  confess  Christ  by  being  baptized.  I had  been 
hoping  that  there  would  be  three  candidates  on  this  occasion ; 
but  one — Mr.  Bentley’s  boy,  Nlemvo,  who  is  also  a disciple 
of  Jesus — was  still  in  England,  and  the  other,  one  of  Weeks’s 
boys,  has  had  a charge  made  against  him,  which  we  believe 
to  be  false,  but  which  has  to  be  thoroughly  sifted  and  dis- 
proved before  we  can  admit  him  to  the  Church.  We  have 
good  ground  for  believing,  however,  that  this  boy  also  is 
a true  Christian.  Had  a suitable  piece  of  water  been  found 
nearer,  and  longer  and  exacter  notice  given,  we  should  doubt- 
less have  had  a large  crowd  of  people  to  witness  the  baptism  ; 
as  it  was,  we  only  had  our  school-boys,  several  of  the  principal 
men  in  the  town,  and  a few  women.  It  was  an  impressive 
service ; several  hymns  were  sung,  and  a few  words  spoken 
on  the  subject  of  following  and  serving  Christ. 

‘ One  thing  struck  me  very  much  in  my  visit  to  the  capital 
this  time,  and  that  was  the  strong  party-feeling  of  our  friends 
and  followers  in  San  Salvador.  There  is  a great  deal  of 
loyalty  to  us  and  to  our  religion,  and  a strong  feeling  against 
the  mummery  of  the  Portuguese  priests,  with  their  images, 
crucifixes,  and  saints.  This  of  course  is  on  the  part  of  our 
followers,  who  generally  speak  of  them  contemptuously  as 
worshippers  of  graven  images.  From  what  I hear,  I should 
think  the  support  of  the  people  is  pretty  equally  divided, 
numerically,  between  the  priests  and  ourselves,  but  with 
much  more  esprit  de  corps  on  the  part  of  our  followers.  This 
degree  of  loyalty  to  us  is  all  the  more  noteworthy,  because 
the  priests  are  constantly  giving  little  presents  to  the  people, 
to  draw  them  on  to  their  side.  This  is  never  done  by  us. 
Their  presents  to  the  king  are  also  very  far  in  excess  of  ours. 
As  to  the  special  men  I have  mentioned  above,  the  Dorns  or 
noblemen  of  Congo,  there  is  no  doubt,  I think,  that  if  their 
attachment  and  support  were  to  be  bought,  the  priests  would 
buy  it.  They  are  true  to  us,  and  have  been  so  all  along. 


120  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lS8i-6 


partly,  I think,  from  friendship’s  sake,  and  partly  because  they 
believe  in  the  truth  of  our  religion.  My  heart  has  often 
yearned  for  them  that  they  may  be  saved.  Oh  that  there 
may  be  a glorious  harvest  from  this  our  first  Congo  mission- 
field  ! 

‘ I only  had  four  days  in  San  Salvador,  leaving  there  on  the 
Thursday  morning.  I am  very  anxious  to  settle  down  to 
work  at  Wathen  Station,  and  want  to  get  there  as  soon  as 
possible.  Up  and  down  the  line,  and  visiting  all  our  stations, 
takes  up  much  time,  and  makes  one  tired  of  travelling.’ 

The  long  journey  back  to  Underhill  and  then  to  Wathen 
(aco  miles)  was  made  in  the  worst  of  weather.  The  heavy 
rain  was  frequent ; rivers  everywhere  were  swollen  ; native 
bridges  had  many  of  them  been  swept  away,  others  were 
some  feet  beneath  the  water ; low-lying  places  had  become 
swamps,  and  the  valleys  were  flooded.  If  the  journey  to  San 
Salvador  was  the  pleasantest,  the  walk  back  was  the  most 
disagreeable  he  ever  made.  At  some  rivers  he  had  to  wait 
two  or  three  days,  because  no  canoe-man  would  venture  to 
cross  them.  At  one  place  he  had  to  make  a suspension 
bridge  of  creepers,  with  a span  of  sixty-five  feet  over  a 
rushing  torrent.  Sometimes  he  had  to  feel  his  way  carefully 
over  a tree  bridging  a small  stream  or  gully,  walking  barefoot, 
up  to  his  waist,  or  even  his  neck,  in  the  water,  steadying 
himself  by  a liana  rope.  He  had  a donkey  with  him,  but 
the  roads  were  often  too  slippery  to  permit  of  either  donkey 
or  hammock  riding.  At  the  Luvu  river  six  men  had  to  swim 
across,  dragging  the  donkey  by  a rope.  The  men  were 
splendid  swimmers,  but  they  were  carried  so  far  down  stream 
that  Comber  feared  for  their  lives.  Such  a burst  of  rain  as 
this  may  generally  be  expected  in  the  cataract  region  about 
May  lo.  Sometimes  there  are  three  days  of  almost  incessant 
downpour  ; then  the  rain  stops,  and  the  dry  season  suddenly 
sets  in.  So  it  happened  on  this  journey ; the  rain  suddenly 
stopped,  and  the  rest  of  the  way  was  dry.  It  is  best  to 
avoid  travelling  in  the  last  three  weeks  of  the  rainy  season, 
if  possible. 

After  the  station  at  Manyanga  was  transferred  to  Ngombe, 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  121 


and  the  river  was  no  longer  used,  Bayneston  Station 
was  not  necessary  to  us  for  transport  purposes.  It  was 
off  the  direct  road  to  Wathen,  Ngombe,  and  so  long  as 
it  existed,  the  transport  had  to  be  made  in  three  stages: 
Underhill  to  Bayneston,  Bayneston  to  Wathen,  and  Wathen 
to  the  Pool.  It  was  decided  to  abandon  Bayneston,  and  to 
work  the  transport  in  two  stages  only,  thus  to  lessen  the 
number  of  the  lower  river  stations.  This  was  accomplished 
early  in  1886. 

The  roads  were  open  and  quiet,  so  that  there  was  no 
thought  of  danger  in  travelling;  but  on  April  i,  1886, 
a Loango  man  was  sent  up  to  Wathen  with  the  mails,  and 
when  at  Kinzinga,  only  three  and  a half  hours  west  of 
Wathen,  two  men  of  the  district  waylaid  him,  and  murdered 
him,  to  discourage  the  white  men’s  people  from  passing  near 
their  town.  The  natives  sent  in  the  gun  which  the  courier 
carried,  and  offered  to  pay  two  men  for  the  man  killed. 
They  thought  that  this  would  be  gladly  accepted  by  us,  for 
with  them  slaves  are  only  slaves  ; if  one  was  killed,  his  owner 
would  be  enriched  rather  than  wronged,  if  two  men  were  put 
in  his  place.  We  told  them  that  we  could  not  in  any  way 
compound  the  matter ; we  should  refer  the  matter  to  the 
State,  and  they  would  decide  it,  and  punish  the  guilty.  The 
State,  all  in  due  course,  demanded  the  murderers,  and  they 
were  given  up,  and  executed  for  their  crime.  The  mail  was 
nearly  all  lost. 

The  Peace  did  not  lie  idle ; on  February  24  Grenfell 
started  for  a run  to  the  Equator.  A letter  of  his  from  a lone 
sandbank  above  the  Pool  tells  the  story  of  the  first  few  days 
of  this  trip  : — 

‘ It  may  be  a surprise  to  find  me  dating  from  a “sandbank.” 
The  fact  is,  it  is  an  exceptional  sandbank,  never  known  to  us 
before,  and  not  one  of  the  crowd  which  we  have  previously 
made  acquaintance  with.  We  have  been  on  it  just  a week  ! 

‘ We  started  up  river  on  the  24th  of  last  February.  We 
camped  in  the  evening  near  Dover  Cliffs,  and  by  noon  the 
next  day  were  within  six  or  seven  miles  of  our  present 
position.  I was  not  well  when  I started,  and  did  not  get 

VOL.  II.  I 


122  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S84-6 


better  as  I went  further ; I had  begun  to  feel  that  I must 
lie  down.  However,  I held  on  till  12.50,  and  then  lay  down 
on  the  top  of  the  cabin.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that  I had  no 
sooner  dozed  off  than  I was  awakened  by  a terrific  crash, 
and  a series  of  biting,  scrunching  leaps  w’orse  than  a night- 
mare. 

‘ I found  that  we  had  pulled  up  on  a reef  of  rock,  and  in 
three  minutes — it  was  1.25  when  we  struck — the  whole  of  the 
forepart  of  the  steamer,  as  far  as  the  engine-room,  was  full  of 
water  up  to  the  level  of  the  river  outside  ; for  all  three  of  the 
water-tight  compartments  were  “ bilged  ” by  a series  of  holes 
not  far  from  the  keel.  The  first  boat  took  off  my  wife  and 
child,  and  two  or  three  of  our  school-children  ; the  second 
took  instruments,  bedding,  and  our  already  soaked  clothing. 
Another  boat-load  took  our  food  stores ; a couple  of  tons  of 
firewood  we  threw  overboard,  and  so  lightened  the  steamer — 
her  port  gunwale  forward  being  at  the  water’s  edge,  her 
starboard  propeller  aft  was  out  of  the  water — that  she 
righted  a bit,  and  swung  round  broadside  ; but,  unfortunately, 
she  “jammed”  between  two  great  hidden  spurs  of  rock,  and 
remained  immovable,  notwithstanding  that  we  ran  out  a 
couple  of  anchors  and  pulled  our  hardest. 

‘A  tornado  was  looming  in  the  distance,  and  a sorry  fate 
awaited  the  poor  Peace,  if  we  failed  to  get  her  off  her  hard 
bed.  Happily,  we  had  a couple  of  boats  with  us,  and  we 
determined  to  try  to  turn  them  to  account  by  throwing  the 
weight  of  the  forward  part  of  the  steamer  on  to  them  by 
means  of  ropes.  We  made  the  ropes  fast  round  the  boats, 
and  passing  them  under  the  keel  of  the  steamer  and  hauling 
them  tight,  we  found  that  we  were  gradually  able  to  raise  the 
bows  of  the  Peace  off  the  rocks  ; and,  after  half  an  hour’s 
hard  pulling,  we  were  quite  free,  and  floating  down  river.  The 
signal,  “ Go  ahead,  full  speed ! ” was  soon  responded  to  ; and 
a few  minutes  later  we  were  safely  ashore  at  a point  some 
three  hundred  yards  below.  Happily  for  us,  our  engine-room 
was  clear  of  water,  and  we  were  able  to  keep  steam  up ; if 
the  last  hole  had  been  two  feet  nearer  the  stern,  we  should 
indeed  have  been  in  a sorry  plight.  We  had  not  been  ashore 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS4-6  123 


five  minutes  before  the  wind  came  sweeping  down  between 
the  hills  which  bound  the  gorge,  through  which  the  Congo 
runs  for  the  last  hundred  miles  before  reaching  the  Pool  ; and 
then  the  rain — such  rain,  and  such  torrents  of  it ! But  we 
did  not  mind  the  wind  or  rain  ; we  were  off  the  rocks  and 
safe  ashore,  and  great  was  our  gratitude. 

‘The  next  morning  we  carefully  stopped  the  holes  with 
cloth  and  cotton  waste,  and  then  baled  out  the  water.  We 
then  proceeded  to  get  up  steam,  and  to  run  the  steamer 
ashore.  Our  second  attempt  was  so  successful  that  the  last 
hole,  twenty-four  feet  from  the  stern,  and  only  three  inches 
from  the  keel,  was  high  and  dry,  with  an  inch  or  two  of 
working  space  betw'een  it  and  the  sand,  which  we  soon 
increased  by  digging  out.  Three  days  later  the  eleven 
patches,  some  of  them  two  feet  long,  were  riveted  up,  and 
we  were  water-tight  again  once  more.  Tuesday  morning 
came,  and  the  order  was  given  to  load  up  the  boats,  and 
make  ready  for  a start.  Surely,  we  thought,  we  shall  be 
able  to  put  the  Peace  in  the  water  again,  and  be  ready  for 
a start  by  noon.  But  noon  came,  and  we  had  not  moved  an 
inch ; night  came,  and  we  were  still  in  the  same  place.  We 
had  pushed  and  pulled  with  all  our  might,  and  we  had  tried 
to  dig  the  sand  away  from  under  the  steamer  and  let  her 
down  into  the  water,  and  all  without  success  ; but  seeing  that 
we  only  had  one  fire  shovel  and  a couple  of  dozen  tin  plates 
to  dig  with,  it  is  not  very  surprising  that  we  failed  to  dig  her 
out.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  send  to  Arthington  for 
shovels  and  help. 

‘ Happily,  the  Henry  Reed,  of  the  American  Baptist 
Mission,  and  our  brethren,  Billington  and  Glenesk,  were  on 
the  spot,  and  ready  to  come  to  our  assistance  ; and  bringing 
Whitley  and  Biggs  with  them,  by  seven  o’clock  this  morning 
they  were  in  sight.  Now,  of  course,  there  can  be  no  difficulty, 
we  thought.  We  shall  soon  be  off.  But  the  rope,  though  it 
was  six  inches  in  circumference,  broke  as  the  Henry  Reed 
tried  to  pull  the  Peace  into  the  water.  We  tried  again,  and 
yet  again  ; and,  after  all,  had  to  give  up  the  idea  of  towing  her 
off,  and  revert  to  the  old  plan  of  digging  her  out.  We  had 


124  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  188i-6 


a dozen  shovels  now,  and  many  _more  men ; by  noon  we 
had  a channel  dug  alongside,  and  a few  minutes  later  we 
had  pushed  her  skieways  into  it,  and  she  was  afloat  again. 
It  needed  only  an  hour  to  make  it  just  a week  since  we 
struck.’ 

After  the  run  to  the  Equator,  Grenfell  returned  to  Kwa 
Mouth  without  notable  incident.  His  letters  were  there,  and 
there  was  no  reason  to  run  down  to  Stanley  Pool.  The 
Kasai  was  the  only  great  river  system  which  now  remained 
to  be  explored  by  Grenfell,  and  he  had  been  waiting  for 
an  opportunity  to  complete  the  explorations,  which  were 
necessary  before  our  plans  for  work  were  finally  formed. 
This  was  just  the  opportunity  he  wished  for.  At  the 
same  time  Lieutenant  Wissmann,  a German  explorer,  at  that 
time  in  the  service  of  the  State,  begged  for  a passage  to 
Luebo  ; this  was  granted. 

Grenfell  continues  the  account  of  the  voyage  : — 

‘ You  will  remember,  perhaps,  that  in  the  account  of  the 
first  journey  of  the  Peace  sent  home  by  Comber  and  myself, 
we  told  you  something  of  the  character  of  the  first 
hundred  miles  of  the  Kwa — that  is,  as  far  as  the  junction  of 
the  Kwangu  with  the  Kasai,  which  latter  we  then  mistook 
for  the  Lake  Leopold  river.  It  now  appears  that  on  crossing 
the  river  from  Mushie  we  missed,  by  reason  of  the  many 
low  islands,  the  Lake  Leopold  river,  and  journeyed  up  the 
Kasai  without  knowing  it.  Beyond  the  Kwangu,  the  Kasai 
loses  its  wide  lacustrine  character,  and  is  content  with  a 
channel  of  half  a mile  or  so,  instead  of  one  of  two  or  three 
miles,  where  it  disports  itself  among  numberless  islands  and 
sandbanks,  for  some  forty  miles  beyond  Mushie.  Grass- 
covered  hills  bound  the  river,  both  right  and  left,  for  about 
a hundred  miles  beyond  the  Kwangu.  During  this  hundred 
miles,  too,  the  villages  are  very  small  and  poor,  though  the 
people  are  friendly.  Beyond  the  Poggeberg  the  only  signs 
of  hostility  we  encountered  were  manifested  by  a couple  of 
men  who  drew  their  bows  at  us ; but  who,  in  this  case, 
cowered  away  before  a shaken  finger.  These  Bakutu  are 
the  warriors  of  the  river,  and  have  hitherto  sufficed  to  stop 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  18Si-6  125 


all  communication  between  its  upper  and  lower  stretches. 
However,  we  were  not  long  before  we  had  passed  the  forty 
or  fifty  miles  they  inhabit,  and  among  the  friendly  Bangodi, 
whose  towns  are  on  the  hills  a little  distance  from  the  river. 
These  people  have  no  canoes.  They  are  afraid  of  their 
Bakutu  neighbours,  from  whom,  in  disposition,  they  are  very 
different.  In  the  morning  time  we  found  them  decent  folk 
enough,  but  by  the  afternoon  they  had  partaken  so  freely 
of  the  ever-abundant  palm-wine  as  to  have  become,  I am 
sorry  to  say,  noisy  drunken  people.  I may  also  say  that 
this  is  not  peculiarly  the  case  of  the  Bangodi.  It  is  a very 
far-reaching  evil.  By  the  time  we  had  entered  upon  our 
fourth  hundred  miles  from  the  Congo,  we  had  reached  the 
Badinga  country,  and  were  able  to  buy  food  and  firewood 
very  cheaply  and  in  great  plenty. 

‘Just  previous  to  entering  upon  the  fifth  hundred  miles 
we  came  to  the  junction  of  the  Sankuru,  and  made  our  way 
up  its  stream  for  a couple  of  hours  or  so  before  continuing 
our  journey  up  the  Kasai.  The  people,  Baileo,  were  very 
friendly  ; though  here,  as  elsewhere  (excepting  between  the 
Congo  and  the  Kwangu),  we  could  only  communicate  by 
signs,  and  the  information  thus  gained  was,  necessarily,  of 
the  scantiest.  At  the  point  where  the  course  of  the  Kasai 
changes  from  the  north  to  north-west,  and  about  thirty 
miles  before  we  came  to  the  end  of  our  voyage,  it  receives 
the  Lulua,  up  which  stream  we  proceeded  as  far  as  its 
junction  with  the  Luebo. 

‘ From  facts  that  came  to  my  knowledge  at  Luebo  Station, 
I have  no  doubt  that  the  Kasai  system  of  waterways  will 
prove  of  more  immediate  importance  to  the  State  than 
even  the  Congo  river  itself ; for  it  has  a ready-made  commerce 
waiting  for  an  outlet.  Of  the  5,000  miles  of  navigable 
waterway  accessible  from  Stanley  Pool,  the  Peace  has  now 
traversed  3,400.  Of  the  remaining  1,600,  the  Sankuru  and 
other  streams  which  flow  into  the  Kasai  furnish  fully  1,000, 
leaving  a balance  of  about  600  for  the  Congo  affluents,  which 
as  yet  we  have  not  visited.^ 

At  Kwa  Mouth  Grenfell  found  his  mails,  but  no  accessions 


126  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  188i-6 


to  our  staff  which  warranted  the  occupation  of  Lukolela 
Station.  The  stores  for  the  station,  which  were  already  lying 
in  the  store-houses  at  Stanley  Pool,  had  still  to  lie  there. 
Grenfell  turned  up  river  from  Kwa  Mouth,  bound  for  the 
Stanley  Falls.  He  continues  his  narrative  by  saying : 

‘ The  hostility  which  we  encountered  at  so  many  points  on 
our  first  voyage  to  Stanley  Falls  stands  out  in  remarkable 
contrast  to  our  four  months’  experience  during  this  last 
journey.  At  the  Aruwimi,  where  then  four  hundred  armed 
men  came  out  to  give  chase  to  us,  we  were  now  able  to  go 
ashore  and  buy  food,  and  also  to  get  some  of  the  natives  to 
help  our  crew  in  wooding-up.  The  improved  relationships 
with  the  natives  made  the  constant  work  of  wooding-up 
a much  simpler  matter  than  on  our  first  voyage.  We  were 
also  relieved  from  all  trouble  about  food  supplies,  for  at 
Bokumbi,  a few  miles  beyond  Bangala,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  we  were  able,  in  a few  hours,  to  lay  in  such  a stock 
of  smoked  cassava  as  not  only  sufficed  to  last  us  till  we 
reached  the  Falls,  but  it  held  out  till  we  had  quite  completed 
our  voyage. 

‘Another  pleasing  matter  was  the  discovery  that  some  of 
the  long  reaches,  which  we  previously  thought  were  un- 
inhabited and  uninhabitable,  were  in  reality  fairly  well 
peopled,  and  afforded  many  opportunities  for  future  develop- 
ment. What  we  took  to  be  nothing  but  a great  swamp, 
turns  out  to  be  in  some  places  but  a narrow  fringe  of  low-lying 
country,  which  separates  the  river  from  the  good  land  a little 
distance  at  the  back. 

‘ On  our  previous  visit  to  the  Falls  Station  we  found  the 
place  dominated  by  the  Arabs,  and  the  State  establishment 
only  existing  by  their  sufferance.  The  natives,  recognizing 
the  Arabs  to  be  the  stronger,  were,  of  course,  loyal  to  them, 
and  disloyal  to  the  State ; but  just  as  the  strong  measures 
resorted  to  by  the  authorities  on  the  river  have  resulted  in 
the  peaceful  attitude  of  the  people,  so  the  show  of  force  and 
of  independence  at  the  Falls  has  secured  the  allegiance  of 
many  of  the  disaffected.  The  Arabs  themselves  can  scarcely 
be  afraid  of  the  force  which  might  be  opposed  to  them,  but 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6  127 


they  are  evidently  restrained  from  dealing  in  the  same  high- 
handed manner  as  before — we  suppose,  by  diplomatic  action 
at  Zanzibar. 

‘ The  matter  of  the  languages  spoken  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  is  one  of  the  most  important  to  which  we  can  direct  our 
attention  in  these  early  voyages.  During  this  journey  a collec- 
tion of  fifteen  hundred  new  words  was  made.  At  present  there 
is  no  native  of  the  Pool  district  who  knows  enough  of  English, 
or  even  of  Kongo,  to  act  as  our  interpreter  up  river  ; so  that 
our  means  of  communication  are  of  the  slightest.  There  is 
much  sheer  hard  work  at  the  languages  to  be  done,  before 
we  can  hope  to  do  much  direct  mission  work  among  the 
people.  We  are  only  just  beginning  to  understand  where 
the  language  divisions  occur  ; but  we  hope  that  it  will  not 
be  long  before  we  have  such  a general  idea  as  will  plainly 
indicate  the  best  lines  upon  which  to  work.’ 

There  was  a little  journey  of  further  exploration  of  the 
Kwangu  river  made  in  the  end  of  1886,  but  the  exploratory 
stage  of  the  work  was  now  practically  at  an  end.  Some  of 
our  friends  thought  that  there  had  been  too  much  of  explora- 
tion, not  realizing  how  very  important  it  was  that  we  should 
thoroughly  know  the  district  in  which  we  were  to  work,  before 
we  decided  where  our  stations  were  to  be  placed.  We  had 
first  to  find  where  the  people  were,  and  then  to  take  the 
Gospel  to  them.  People  were  found  at  Lukolela,  and  it  was 
early  decided  to  build  there,  as  well  as  at  one  or  two  other 
places  ; but  the  men  to  do  the  work  were  not  forthcoming. 

During  the  delay  in  occupation  thus  enforced,  Grenfell  kept 
in  touch  with  these  places  by  occasional  visits,  and  completed 
the  explorations.  He  carefully  charted  the  whole  river,  and 
the  navigable  reaches  of  its  affluents.  Even  the  network  of 
channels  between  the  islands  of  the  great  river  was  traced  out 
during  the  many  journeys,  until  all  are  known  and  figure  on 
the  charts.  Grenfell’s  great  chart  of  the  river  from  Leopold- 
ville, Stanley  Pool,  to  the  Stanley  Falls  is  on  the  scale  of  one- 
sixteenth  of  an  inch  to  100  yards  (practically  a mile  to  the 
inch).  The  sheets  of  the  chart  when  laid  out  are  125  feet 
long,  and  this  of  the  main  river  only.  Hour  after  hour  of 


128  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1884-6 


those  long  journeys  Grenfell  stood  behind  his  prismatic 
compass,  taking  the  bearings  of  point  after  point  as  they 
appeared  ; estimating  from  time  to  time  the  speed  of  the 
steamer,  and  correcting  all  the  work,  as  occasion  offered,  by 
astronomical  observations.  When  the  steamer  was  running, 
his  food  had  to  be  brought  to  him  ; unless  in  some  straighter 
run  towards  a more  distant  point,  he  could  slip  away  to  the 
table  for  a few  minutes.  The  result  of  it  all  is  the  series  of 
careful  charts  of  the  whole  wide  region,  which  form  the  basis 
of  the  cartography  of  the  Congo  basin.  When  Grenfell 
reached  home  in  1887,  the  Royal  Geographical  Society 
awarded  to  him  their  gold  medal  for  the  year,  for  his  great 
exploratory  work,  and  the  additions  which  he  had  made  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  Africa. 


A FliTISH 


CHAPTER  III 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1 886-90. 

‘ In  this  blessed  enterprise  we  must,  of  course,  expect  trials,  disappointments, 
sickness,  and  death.  No  great  enterprise  is  ever  accomplished  without  such  ex- 
periences. Let  Christians  at  home  clearly  understand  this,  and  instead  of  wringing 
their  hands  and  growing  faint-hearted  when  they  hear  of  death,  and  what  they 
often  call  disaster,  let  them  regard  all  such  providences  as  fresh  calls  to  duty,  and 
fresh  inspiration  to  more  unselfish  service.’ — David  Livingstone. 

In  preparation  for  the  forward  work  on  the  upper  river, 
stores  and  goods  for  the  establishment  of  three  new  stations 
were  sent  out  to  the  Congo  in  1885.  Everything  necessary 
to  build  the  houses  was  provided,  tools,  nails,  window-sashes, 
barter,  everything,  down  to  slates  and  slate-pencils  for  the 
schools.  All  these  stores  were  worked  up  country,  and  in 
June,  1886,  they  had  safely  reached  our  Arthington  station 
at  Stanley  Pool. 

When  we  built  our  station  at  Leopoldville,  we  were 
thankful  indeed  for  the  site  given  to  us  by  Mr.  Stanley. 
It  was  the  best,  indeed  the  only,  spot  on  which  we  could 
have  built  in  those  wild  early  days.  The  position  had  its 
advantages,  but  also  its  difficulties.  The  station  was  200 
feet  above  the  river  ; it  was  very  far  to  fetch  the  water ; and 
a long  weary  climb  in  the  hot  sun,  whenever  there  was 
occasion  to  descend  to  the  steamer,  or  to  inspect  the  planta- 
tion work  in  the  gardens  along  the  shore.  The  loose  dry 
sand  on  the  top  of  the  hill  could  not  be  utilized  for  garden 
ground.  We  could  but  feel  too  that  we  were  in  the  way  of 
the  Government  Station.  Mr.  Stanley  had  acted  very 
generously  towards  us  in  giving  us  the  site,  but  the  Govern- 


130  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS6-90 


ment  were  at  this  time  wishing  to  build  some  houses  on  the 
hill  beside  us.  Nothing  was  said  to  us  to  the  effect  that  we 
were  in  the  way  ; the  land  had  been  given,  and  they  accepted 
the  situation  of  affairs,  but  we  could  not  fail  to  see  that  our 
presence,  where  we  were,  was  a difficulty. 

This  and  other  considerations  made  us  wish  to  find  some 
more  convenient  site.  About  a mile  and  a half  beyond 
Kallina  Point  and  a mile  from  Kinshasa  was  the  highest  point 
on  the  south-western  shore  of  the  Pool.  This  site  was  finally 
selected,  and  the  State  authorities  were  willing  to  exchange 
it  for  the  ground  that  Stanley  had  accorded  to  us.  The 
grass  houses  which  we  had  built  would  soon  require  to  be 
re-roofed,  and  as  we  had  erected  no  permanent  buildings,  the 
transfer  was  a simple  matter.  Accordingly  the  new  buildings 
were  commenced,  and  when  the  Peace  went  up  river  in 
February,  Biggs  took  charge  of  the  building  operations. 
A house  for  Grenfell  was  erected,  and  other  buildings  and 
stores. 

The  dry  season  of  1886  had  well  set  in  by  the  middle  of 
June,  and  for  a fortnight  the  men  had  been  busy  clearing 
away  the  long  grass  from  around  the  station  at  Leopoldville. 
This  work  was  complete,  with  the  exception  of  a small  patch 
on  the  north  side  of  the  station.  Mr.  Glenesk,  of  the 
American  Baptist  Mission,  very  kindly  lent  their  steamer 
the  Henry  Reed  to  carry  up  several  loads  of  building 
material  to  the  new  Arthington  station.  On  June  24 
Mr.  Glenesk  was  taking  his  steamer  round  to  Kinshasa  to 
cut  grass  for  thatching  the  houses  which  he  was  building, 
and  offered  to  take  up  another  load  for  us.  Whitley  loaded 
her  with  iron  sheets,  wooden  doors  and  windows,  and  a few 
of  Grenfell’s  boxes,  and  went  up  with  them,  taking  with  him 
six  men  to  unload  the  steamer.  He  left  the  station  in 
charge  of  Shaw,  the  Sierra  Leone  carpenter,  an  intelligent 
and  trustworthy  man.  Four  men  and  two  boys  remained 
with  him. 

While  Whitley  was  away  with  the  loads,  some  native  boys 
fired  the  grass  far  away  to  the  west  of  the  station ; the 
jungle  burnt  fiercely,  and  the  fire  swept  along  to  the  north 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1SS6-90  131 


side  of  the  station,  and  burnt  the  patch  of  jungle  which  had 
been  left,  threatening  a fowl-house.  Shaw  called  the  men 
who  were  left,  and  with  branches  of  the  bushes  they  managed 
to  beat  out  the  advanced  edge  of  the  fire.  When  that 
danger  was  over,  they  turned  to  go  away,  and  found  that 
.sparks  from  the  burning  jungle  had  fallen  on  one  of  the 
stores.  They  called  for  assistance,  and  began  to  drag  out 
the  contents  of  the  store.  The  Zanzibaris  of  the  Government 
saw  the  fire,  and  ran  up  to  help.  Baron  von  Nimptsch,  the 
Administrator  General,  rendered  all  the  help  in  his  power, 
and  sent  140  Kaffirs  who  had  recently  arrived.  The  fire 
swept  from  store  to  store,  until  only  the  two  dwelling-houses 
on  the  top  of  the  hill  were  saved.  Measures  were  at  once 
taken  to  stop  the  fire,  which  was  advancing  toward  the 
Government  Station  ; these  were  successful. 

The  loss  was  very  great.  All  the  stores  accumulated  in 
readiness  for  the  three  new  upper  river  stations  were  de- 
stroyed, as  well  as  the  Arthington  Station  stores,  duplicate 
parts  of  the  Peace,  and  her  stores  of  oil,  paint,  &c.,  and  most 
of  the  personal  belongings  of  Grenfell,  Whitley,  Charters, 
Biggs,  Davies,  and  myself.  It  was  estimated  that  the  loss 
would  not  be  covered  for  less  than  ;^3,oco  ; further  careful 
consideration  showed  that  ;^^4,ooo  was  necessary  to  replace 
all  that  had  been  consumed.  The  news  was  telegraphed 
home,  and  letters  giving  the  details  were  published  in  the 
September  Herald,  with  an  appeal  for  help  to  replace  the 
burnt  stores.  Our  friends  nobly  responded  to  the  appeal ; 
in  less  than  two  months  more  than  four  thousand  pounds 
were  sent  in  to  the  Mission  House,  with  letters  expressing 
deep  sympathy,  and  urging  the  Society  to  push  forward  the 
work  with  all  energy.  The  total  sum  which  was  raised  in 
response  to  the  appeal  was  ! Our  mission  had  indeed 

taken  a deep  hold  on  the  hearts  of  our  friends  throughout 
the  country.  We  knew  it  before,  but  now  we  realized  it 
fully,  and  were  not  a little  encouraged.  We  regarded  this 
ready  generosity  as  a magnificent  vote  of  confidence. 

Grenfell  returned  from  the  upper  river  the  day  after  the 
fire,  to  learn  that  we  were  thrown  terribly  back.  The  trans- 


132  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


port  had  been  running  well,  so  the  goods  ordered  were 
promptly  to  hand.  All  the  oil  for  the  engines  was  burnt ; 
a good  stock  was  out,  and  none  was  even  on  order.  For 
nearly  a year  the  engines  had  to  be  run  with  palm  oil.  This 
oil  is  a most  unsuitable  lubricant,  for  it  is  rich  in  acids  and 
resin  ; it  eats  the  brasses,  and  makes  a bright  green  froth 
in  a short  time.  Later  on  it  was  found  that  an  excellent  oil 
is  made  from  the  nuts  of  a species  of  raphia  palm,  and 
much  is  used  now  for  machinery.  In  1886  that  discovery 
had  not  been  made,  and  there  was  nothing  but  the  ordinary 
Elais  palm  oil. 

Everything  from  the  ruins  which  was  of  any  use  was 
shifted  by  steamer  to  the  new  station  at  Kinshasa,  and  now 
the  only  trace  of  our  station  at  Leopoldville  is  a large  tree 
on  the  top  of  the  hill,  which  was  once  one  of  the  posts  of  the 
porch  of  one  of  the  dwelling-houses.  The  clumps  of  bamboo 
which  are  now  so  common  at  Stanley  Pool  were  derived 
from  our  old  garden,  from  a slip  which  I brought  from 
Loango  in  1882.  There  were  no  bamboos  on  the  upper 
river  before  that. 

In  June,  1886,  Miss  Spearing  arrived  to  join  our  staff,  and 
undertook  the  school  work  at  Stanley  Pool.  Dr.  Seright 
came  out  at  the  same  time  as  a medical  officer  to  the 
mission ; but  he  suffered  so  much  from  fever  that  in  three 
months  he  returned  to  England.  The  Society  was  desirous 
of  securing  another  medical  man  in  Dr.  Seright's  place,  but 
was  unable  to  do  so. 

The  transport  service  of  the  mission  was  giving  trouble  at 
this  time.  The  natives  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wathen 
Station  could  not  be  induced,  in  any  numbers,  to  carry  from 
Underhill  to  Wathen.  They  would  carry  from  Wathen  to  the 
Pool,  but  they  would  not  face  the  stony  hills  toward  Under- 
hill. The  difficulty  was  solved  by  our  building  a transport 
post  on  some  ground  belonging  to  the  American  Mission  at 
Lukungu.  After  some  months  of  personal  superintendence 
by  Silvey,  Thomas  Comber’s  personal  boy,  William  Mantu 
Parkinson,  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  recruitment  of  carriers 
for  the  mission,  and  rendered  very  good  service  for  ten  years. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  133 


His  baptism,  in  March,  188,6,  has  been  already  referred  to. 
The  transport  was  always  a great  difficulty,  owing  to  the 
competition  of  the  State,  the  trading  houses,  and  the  other 
missions.  The  demand  for  carriers  was  much  greater  than 
the  supply ; and  although  the  supply  was  eventually  largely 
increased,  the  demand  increased  also.  The  railway  has 
now  made  an  end  to  the  difficulty  in  the  Congo  State ; but 
until  that  happy  solution  was  effected  the  trouble  was 
acute. 

In  September,  1886,  the  Peace  started  with  Davies  and 
Richards  to  found  the  new  station  at  Lukolela.  Whitley  and 
Charters  were  in  charge  of  the  steamer.  They  took  with 
them  such  tools  and  nails  as  had  been  found  in  the  ruins  of 
the  fire,  and  very  scanty  stores.  On  their  way  up  they 
ascended  the  Kwa  river,  and  visited  Lake  Leopold,  but 
found  the  natives  very  wild.  Davies  became  ill  of  fever,  and 
as  they  returned  to  the  Congo,  became  worse.  They  all  felt 
that  he  was  not  fit  to  be  left  at  a new  station,  so  returned 
with  him  to  the  Pool.  Biggs  took  his  place  on  the  steamer, 
and  they  started  once  more  on  November  i.  At  Kwa  Mouth 
there  were  two  Roman  Catholic  missions  established,  one  on 
either  bank  of  the  river  at  its  mouth.  On  the  south  side  was 
the  station  of  the  Scheut  P'athers,  and  on  the  north  that  of 
the  Algerian  White  Fathers.  The  White  Fathers  have  now 
another  field  allotted  to  them,  and  the  Scheut  Fathers  occupy 
the  site  which  once  belonged  to  the  White  Fathers.  Food 
was  very  scarce,  and  much  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
victualling  the  crew.  The  river,  too,  was  very  high,  and  in  con- 
sequence it  was  often  difficult  to  find  wood  for  the  steamer. 

On  November  13,  1886,  they  reached  Lukolela.  The 
State  Station  had  been  abandoned  as  quite  unnecessary. 
The  natives  were  very  glad  to  see  their  missionaries,  and 
accorded  them  a hearty  welcome.  They  doubtless  recog- 
nized that  their  advent  opened  to  them  a source  of  cotton 
cloth,  looking-glasses,  knives,  and  brass  wire,  practically 
inexhaustible.  Before  nightfall  a clearing  had  been  made, 
and  the  troop  of  monkeys  who  had  been  in  possession  ran 
off  into  the  forest. 


134  ^E.W  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


Next  morning,  old  Mangaba  the  chief  came.  He  was  very 
friendly,  and  made  large  promises  of  help  and  food  ; he 
seemed  to  be  very  glad  that  at  last  we  had  come.  He  sold 
two  native  huts,  which  were  soon  pulled  down,  transported, 
and  re-erected  on  our  site.  Two  men  and  a boy  engaged 
themselves  to  serve  on  the  steamer.  After  staying  five  clear 
days  at  Lukolela,  the  steamer  returned,  and  left  Richards 
and  Biggs  to  their  struggle  with  the  first  difficulties. 

On  September  26  I arrived  at  Banana  with  my  wife  and 
four  new  colleagues : Graham  and  Phillips,  who  were  to  be 


W.  HOLMAN  BENTLEY  AND  MRS.  BENTLEY 

stationed  at  San  Salvador  ; Shindler,  who  was  to  stay  at 
Underhill  ; and  Darby,  who  was  to  go  to  Lukolela  to  release 
Biggs,  so  that  he  might  return  to  Arthington,  his  station. 
With  us  came  also  Miss  Seed,  who  was  to  be  married  in 
about  three  months  to  Darling,  who  was  in  charge  at  Under- 
hill. Miss  Seed  went  to  stay  at  the  American  Mission  at 
Mpalabala.  I had  prepared  the  Congo  Dictionary  for  the 
pre.ss ; the  English-Kongo  section  was  all  printed,  and  I 
brought  out  a few  advance  copies  of  it  bound.  Only  part 
of  the  Kongo-English  section  was  printed  ; proofs  of  the  rest 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIPER  : 1886-90  135 


were  to  be  sent  after  me  by  the  next  mail.  The  Grammar 
was  not  written. 

We  stayed  a week  or  two  at  Underhill,  and  as  soon  as 
carriers  came,  my  wife  and  I started  up  country  with  Darby. 
We  had  to  stay  some  time  at  Wathen  with  the  Combers, 
because  food  was  so  scarce  at  Arthington,  that  until  some 
cases  of  food  came  our  advent  would  mean  starvation  all 
round.  The  transport  was  running  very  badly,  and  the  fire 
had  made  such  havoc  that  it  was  impossible  to  supply  the 
station  wants. 

The  station  buildings  at  Wathen  in  1887  have  all  dis- 
appeared now.  Comber  was  busy  making  bricks,  and  the 
foundations  of  a large  brick  house  were  laid.  A school  of 
twenty  boys  lived  on  the  station.  The  station  house  was  of 
clay  (wattle  and  daub),  and  so  were  the  stores.  Thomas 
Comber  had  always  a good  audience  when  he  went  into  the 
town  of  Ngombe,  which  was  ten  minutes  distant,  and  the 
people  were  very  friendly.  When  we  had  been  there  a fort- 
night, Philip  Davies  came  from  Stanley  Pool  to  Wathen,  to 
make  that  station  his  home. 

After  a while  we  were  able  to  move  on  to  Stanley  Pool, 
and  reached  Arthington  on  November  25.  A fortnight  after 
Grenfell  and  I started  in  the  Peace  to  explore  the  Kwangu 
river.  My  wife  came  with  us,  and  Darby,  and  Dr.  Mense, 
a German  doctor  in  the  service  of  the  State,  who  had  been 
very  kind  to  us.  We  hoped  to  find  the  Kwangu  navigable 
to  the  latitude  of  San  Salvador,  and  perhaps  extend  our 
operations  in  that  direction  later  on. 

We  ascended  the  Congo  to  Kwa  Mouth,  then  up  the  Kwa. 
As  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Kasai  the  natives  were  friendly, 
but  as  soon  as  we  entered  unexplored  water  we  had  to 
exercise  care.  Presently  we  reached  the  country  of  the 
Bangulu-ngulu,  and  the  known  languages  failed.  We  had 
with  us  a bright  Teke  boy  from  the  Pool,  but  he  could  not 
understand  the  people.  At  most  places  those  people  were 
inclined  to  be  hostile  ; they  came  down  to  their  ‘ beaches  ’ 
fully  armed,  and  would  not  allow  us  to  go  near  to  them.  We 
had  to  lower  the  arrow-guards,  and  keep  a sharp  look-out. 


136  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


At  one  or  two  places  they  were  friendly,  and  sold  us  food. 
After  several  days,  towards  sundown  we  saw  some  fishermen, 
and  shouted  to  them  in  the  known  languages.  To  our  joy, 
they  replied  in  Kongo,  Mbazi  inene  ! (‘  to-morrow’).  In  the 
morning  we  found  that  the  people  understood  Kongo,  and 
spoke  like  the  San  Salvador  people. 

Next  afternoon  we  found  a 'beach,’  and  a number  of  the 
Bakundi,  who  speak  Kongo.  They  said  that  their  towns 
were  on  the  hills,  so  we  started  off  with  some  of  the  local 
natives  to  visit  the  towns.  The  people  were  very  friendly ; 
we  had  some  interesting  talks  with  them,  and  passed 
through  several  towns.  When  the  sun  was  low  we  returned, 
and  on  reaching  the  steamer  the  natives  bade  us  good  night 
and  went  away,  promising  to  return  in  the  morning  early, 
before  we  started.  We  had  our  evening  meal,  and  at  eight 
o’clock  called  the  boys  for  evening  prayer.  I had  brought 
with  me  a collapsible  harmonium  which  packed  very  snugly ; 
this  was  set  up,  and  we  commenced  to  sing  a hymn.  Before 
we  had  sung  through  the  first  verse  the  bank  was  thronged 
with  armed  natives.  We  had  no  idea  that  there  was  any 
one  about,  for  they  had  all  gone  up  to  their  towns.  They 
had  evidently  been  suspicious  of  us,  and  had  returned  fully 
armed,  and  hidden  in  the  scrub  which  lined  the  banks.  For 
fear  of  leopards,  and  because  there  was  no  sandbank  to 
sleep  upon,  all  our  boys  were  on  board  the  steamer  or  the 
Plymouth,  which  she  towed  full  of  wood,  so  no  one  discovered 
that  we  were  ambushed.  Without  knowing  it,  we  had  been 
closely  watched.  There  was  no  cleaning  of  guns  on  the 
steamer,  nor  any  signs  of  a night  raid  on  the  towns,  so  their’ 
suspicions  were  partly  set  at  rest,  and  the  hymn-singing 
brought  them  out.  They  were  perfectly  silent  ; we  could 
see  that,  whatever  had  been  intended,  it  was  then  only 
curiosity  and  amazement,  so  we  continued  our  hymn  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  We  followed  it  with  two  or  three 
more,  then  a portion  of  Scripture,  a few  appropriate  remarks, 
a prayer,  and  two  more  hymns.  A hundred  silent  heads 
watched  and  listened.  They  could  hear  and  understand 
all,  and  the  little  service  was  adapted  to  the  circumstances. 


MEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIPER  : 1SS6-90  137 


When  all  was  finished  it  was  nearly  nine  o’clock  ; so  we  sent  the 
boys  to  bed,  or  rather  to  their  mats,  and  bade  the  natives 
‘good  night  ’ — Nda  Icki  kiambotc — ‘sleep  well.’  They  replied, 
and  went  away  to  their  towns  satisfied  that  we  were  strange, 
but  harmless  beings.  In  the  morning  they  were  down,  a few 
of  them,  to  see  us  again  before  we  started.  This  was  their 
first  contact  with  white  men. 

On  a steamer,  wood  is  the  great  daily  anxiety.  From  four 
o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  banks  are  eagerly  scanned  for 
a large  dead  tree.  When  at  length  one  is  found,  it  is  of 
a suitable  quality  if  the  small  twigs  at  the  very  top  of  the 
tree  have  been  blown  away.  Two  or  three  men  land,  and 
examine  it.  If  the  report  is  satisfactory,  the  steamer  is 
moored,  the  fires  are  drawn,  and  the  steam  blown  off.  All 
the  crew  land  ; the  scrub  round  is  cleared,  and  the  tree  is 
cut  down  with  a cross-cut  saw.  Care  must  be  taken  that 
it  does  not  fall  over  the  steamer  or  into  the  river ; but 
there  is  not  often  a chance  of  that.  The  tree  being  felled, 
the  scrub  is  cleared,  to  allow  of  work  along  the  tree.  Several 
cross-cut  saws  are  brought,  and  the  tree  cut  into  sections 
of  about  two  feet.  The  sections  are  brought  to  the  bank, 
and  riven  with  large  axes  and  steel  wedges.  The  tree  should 
be  in  size  like  some  great  elm,  so  there  is  plenty  of  work 
to  do  ; it  may  be  two  or  three  o’clock  in  the  morning  before 
it  is  all  cut  up,  riven  into  suitable  chunks  for  the  furnace,  and 
stowed  on  the  steamer. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  on  the  part  of  the  look-out, 
for  entire  trees  sometimes  drift  down  river,  and  ground, 
the  underpart  of  the  branches  lying  buried  in  the  sand. 
Much  of  the  wood  which  grows  beside  the  Congo  is  too 
heavy  to  float,  it  sinks  like  iron.  Sometimes  even  in  a deep 
channel  one  of  the  sunken  grounded  trees  lies  fixed,  with 
strong  sharp  branches  near  the  surface  of  the  water  ; there 
may  not  be  even  a ripple  to  mark  its  presence,  but  if  the 
steamer  were  to  touch  one  of  the  branches,  it  would  penetrate 
her  plates  at  once.  Palm  trees  sometimes  drift  down,  and 
the  root  part  gets  grounded ; the  head  of  the  palm  slopes 
away  down  stream,  under  the  water.  Such  palms  are  very 

VOL.  II.  K 


138  NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


strong,  and  they  would  either  lift  the  steamer  out  of  the  water 
as  she  ran  upon  it,  or  go  through  her  plates,  and  stick  up  in 
the  penetrated  section. 

The  river  was  very  broad  and  shallow  in  some  places — 
wide  wastes  of  water  — but  over  the  greater  part  of  that 
portion  which  we  were  able  to  explore  the  river  flowed  in 
a gorge,  the  banks  in  some  places  being  1,000  feet  high.  We 
saw  elephants  once  in  a grassy  glade  ; footmarks  of  buffaloes, 
antelopes,  and  hogs,  were  often  seen ; hippos  were  very 
common.  As  we  were  the  first  comers,  they  were  not  at 
all  shy ; we  killed  and  landed  two  hippos  and  cut  them 
up.  In  some  places  we  found  banks  of  large  empty  oyster 
shells,  some  eight  inches  across.  The  river  wound  about, 
making  great  doubles  upon  itself,  and  often  a day’s  steaming 
brought  us  very  little  further  south.  In  1880  Major  von 
Mechow  put  an  iron  boat  on  the  Kwangu,  at  a point  roo 
miles  south  of  the  latitude  of  San  Salvador,  and  descended 
northward  for  nearly  200  miles,  as  far  as  the  rapids  of 
Kingunzi,  which  he  considered  to  be  passable  at  high  water. 
It  was  high  water  when  we  were  there,  and  we  hoped  that  we 
should  be  able  to  pass  the  barrier.  In  that  case  we  might 
have  put  a station  on  the  river,  and  transported  most  of  our 
loads  for  the  upper  river  to  the  Kwangu,  and  so  to  the  upper 
river,  instead  of  by  the  usual  caravan  route,  which  at  that 
time  had  practically  failed. 

Von  Mechow  had  ascertained  the  height  of  the  Kwangu  at 
Kingunzi,  and  as  there  was  a difference  of  some  300  feet  between 
that  and  the  level  of  the  water  at  Stanley  Pool,  we  feared  that  we 
should  find  a great  fall  somewhere  on  the  way,  and  anxiously 
glanced  along  the  reaches  as  we  rounded  point  after  point. 
The  whole  distance  from  Stanley  Pool  to  Kingunzi  proved  to 
be  400  miles — 150  miles  from  the  confluence  with  the  Kasai. 
After  many  days  Grenfell  took  an  obsecvation  of  the  height 
of  the  river  above  the  sea,  at  the  point  which  we  had  reached, 
and  found  that  we  were  well  on  towards  von  Mechow’s  level. 

On  the  seventeenth  day  out,  December  26,  we  reached 
Kingunzi.  A low  reef  ran  across  the  river,  making  only  a 
small  fall,  but  we  could  not  make  our  way  up  it.  The 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 18S6-90  139 

Government  is  now  engaged  in  making  a passage  past  this 
obstacle,  which  will  give  access  to  another  200  miles  of  water- 
way on  the  Kwangu.  There  is  already  a small  steamer  on 
the  upper  reach.  On  our  way  up  we  passed  two  large 
affluents  coming  in  on  the  right  bank,  the  Kwilu  and  the 
Wambu. 

At  one  place  an  attempt  was  made  to  levy  blackmail.  We 
stopped  one  afternoon  to  fell  and  work  up  a dead  tree  for  fuel. 
Just  about  sundown  two  men  came  in  a canoe  to  demand 
toll.  We  told  them  that  they  were  making  a mistake  ; white 
men  and  steamers  do  not  pay  toll,  but  if  the  chief  liked  to 
pay  us  a friendly  visit  we  should  be  glad  to  see  him.  We 
endeavoured  to  make  friends  with  them,  but  they  had  very 
inflated  ideas  as  to  themselves,  and  the  rapidly  growing 
darkness  made  them  leave  with  threats  that  they  would  come 
and  take  their  blackmail  in  the  morning.  We  started  early 
as  usual,  and  expected  that  we  had  seen  the  last  of  the 
blusterers ; but  as  we  rounded  a point  100  yards  above  our 
anchorage  a canoe  put  out  with  four  men  armed  with  guns. 
They  demanded  blackmail,  and  lay  across  our  bows.  The 
two  whistles  of  the  Peace  shrieked  their  loudest,  and  the  pet 
cocks  puffed  clouds  of  steam.  There  was  an  instant  collapse 
in  the  canoe ; guns  were  dropped  and  paddles  were  seized 
and  plied  to  their  utmost,  driving  the  canoe  back  stern  first 
in  their  hurried  flight.  The  Peace  manoeuvred  towards  them, 
the  canoe  was  beached,  the  warriors  jumped  ashore  almost 
one  on  the  top  of  the  other,  and  disappeared  in  the  grass. 
Every  one  shrieked  with  laughter,  and  our  crew  chaffed  their 
would-be  assailants  in  an  unsparing  manner.  It  was  a very 
droll  escapade.  Nothing  of  the  kind  was  attempted  on  our 
return.  We  stayed  a few  hours  at  the  Kingunzi  rapids,  and 
then  started  back  to  Stanley  Pool,  which  we  reached  in  a 
week.  Grenfell  left  on  January  5,  1887,  to  return  to  England  ; 
and  the  Peace  took  up  Darby  and  further  supplies  to 
Lukolela. 

Food  was  a great  difficulty  at  Stanley  Pool  during  the  first 
half  of  1887,  our  own  stores  were  practically  exhausted;  we 
had  only  three  or  four  tins  of  preserved  provisions,  and  some 

K 2 


140  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1S86-90 


tins  of  brown  cheesy  condensed  milk.  Fowls  and  goats  were 
very  scarce  and  dear,  so  that  we  seldom  could  buy  them. 
Occasionally  we  could  buy  fresh  fish,  but  the  staple  food  for 
the  mission  staff  was  smoked  fish.  They  were  caught  and 
dried  on  skewers  up  river,  and  sold  at  the  Pool  by  the 
Bayansi.  They  were  very  dry  and  black  when  we  bought 
them,  and  very  uninviting  in  appearance.  They  w'ere  often 
infested  wdth  great  maggots,  the  pupae  of  some  kind  of  beetle; 
these  had  to  be  knocked  out,  and  the  fish  broken  up  and 
soaked;  it  could  then  be  stew'ed.  The  bread  stuff  was  cassava 
pudding,  called  by  the  Kongo-speaking  natives  kivanga.  This 
w'e  ate  fried  or  roast  before  the  fire.  It  was  hard  fare  for 
ladies,  but  my  wife  and  Miss  Spearing  bravely  faced  the 
difficulties. 

I was  busy  writing  the  Grammar  of  the  Kongo  language 
but  I had  to  do  this  wdien  I could.  The  evening  was  the  best 
time,  but  the  mosquitoes  were  terrible.  Often  I have  seen  the 
w’alls  of  the  room  covered  so  thickly  with  resting  mosquitoes^ 
that  a sharp  blow  with  the  hand  would  crush  four  or  five 
anywhere,  beside  all  those  that  w-ere  flying  in  the  room. 
Their  bite  too  was  c.xceptionally  painful.  My  wife  made 
a curtain  for  a mosquito-proof  room  six  feet  by  nine  feet,  and 
seven  feet  high  ; this  covered  my  table,  and  if  let  down  at 
four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  made  waiting  at  night  no 
difficulty. 

Arrangements  were  made  for  the  starting  of  a school  in  the 
towm  of  Kinshasa.  Some  boys  said  that  they  would  come  if 
it  w'as  held  in  the  tow  n,  and  old  Nchulu,  the  chief,  had  no 
objection  to  raise.  The  towm  was  twenty-five  minutes’  walk 
from  the  station ; but  we  had  two  canoes  and  plenty  of  paddles, 
so  w'e  decided  to  go  by  water  every  morning  w ith  the  children 
of  the  station.  The  tw'o  canoes  were  lashed  together,  three 
feet  apart,  and  Miss  Spearing  and  the  children  came  up  with 
me.  Twenty  or  thirty  of  the  townsfolk  promised  to  attejid 
regularly,  and  the  school  commenced  in  a most  encouraging 
manner  in  old  Nchulu’s  courtyard. 

We  made  up  three  classes,  and  many  of  the  townsfolk  and 
Bayansi  strangers  came  to  look  on  and  listen.  We  were 


KINSHASA,  STAM.EA'  TOOL 


142  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


really  teaching  more  than  the  pupils  in  the  classes,  for  the 
onlookers,  many  of  them,  learned  the  letters  themselves  ; 
and  when  a pupil  forgot  a letter,  some  one  outside  the  circle 
of  learners  would  suggest  it  to  him.  My  knowledge  of 
Kiteke — the  town  language— was  not  great,  but  I was  be- 
ginning to  make  headway  in  it.  I taught  the  scholars  and 
listeners  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  and  explained  it  before  school. 
The  numbers  kept  up  very  well,  and  good  progress  was 
made.  Every  day  when  our  twin  canoes  arrived,  there  was 
a rush  of  willing  helpers  to  carry  up  the  chairs.  Miss 
Spearing  learned  to  steer,  and  enjoyed  the  daily  water  trip 
as  much  as  the  rest  of  us. 

For  a month  the  school  went  on  swimmingly  and  happily, 
until  one  morning  the  scholars  struck  for  pay.  They  said 
that  they  were  not  going  to  work  unless  they  were  paid 
for  it.  We  asked  them  what  work  they  meant.  ‘ School, 
we  are  not  coming  to  school  any  more  unless  you  pay  us !’ 
We  told  them  that  we  certainly  should  not  pay  any  one  to 
come  to  school  ; we  thought  that  it  was  but  a passing  whim, 
and  that  soon  they  would  continue  to  come  to  us.  On 
inquiring  further  as  to  the  obstinate  refusal  to  learn,  they 
told  us  that  they  would  not  be  outwitted  by  us.  We  were 
paid  to  teach  them,  and  would  get  a large  bonus  per  head 
as  well  if  we  could  report  a large  school ; there  was  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  share  the  bonus  with  us  ; it  was  given 
us  for  the  purpose,  and  we  were  defrauding  them.  We  were 
astonished  at  the  story  they  told,  which  quite  accounted  for 
their  obstinacy.  We  inquired  further  as  to  who  put  such 
an  idea  into  their  heads,  for  it  was  no  native  notion,  evidently ; 
we  learned  that  a white  engineer  working  in  the  service  of 
a trading  house  near  by  had  told  the  people  this  falsehood, 
and  they  thoroughly  believed  it. 

We  tried  for  several  days  to  revive  the  school,  but  greedy 
old  Nchulu  had  the  idea  fixed  in  his  head,  and  there  was 
no  moving  him.  So  the  school  which  had  given  us  such 
hopes  was  destroyed.  School  work  in  the  town  was  resumed 
a year  or  so  afterwards,  but  when  a grass  school-house  had 
been  put  up,  the  State  decided  to  build  at  Kinshasa,  and  our 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  143 


school-house  was  built  upon  the  fixed  site.  It  could  have 
been  shifted,  but  the  natives  themselves  left  Kinshasa,  and 
crossed  to  Impila,  on  the  French  side  of  the  river,  as  the 
Kintambu  people  had  done.  In  this  way  the  Bateke  returned 
to  their  own  side  of  the  river,  and  the  State  was  disem- 
barrassed. They  were  very  numerous,  and  did  not  produce 
nearly  sufficient  food  for  themselves,  thus  rendering  it  the 
more  difficult  to  the  State  officers  to  get  food  for  their 
soldiers  and  workpeople.  It  was  a great  disappointment  to 
us  to  have  so  many  natives  leave  the  neighbourhood  of  our 
station.  Now  great  plantations  of  coffee  and  tobacco  mark 
the  sites  of  what  were  once  two  great  townships. 

The  food  difficulty  was  very  serious  ; almost  our  whole 
supply  was  derived  from  the  north  bank  of  the  river.  The 
French  officer  in  charge  at  Brazzaville  bought  all  the  kwanga 
that  was  brought  to  his  market,  and  very  kindly  allowed  us 
to  send  over  and  buy  from  him  as  much  as  he  could  spare. 
At  the  end  of  March  the  Peace  returned  with  Biggs,  who 
was  to  remain  at  Arthington.  The  steamer  had  been  up 
to  Bangala,  but  they  only  brought  back  food  for  a day  or 
two  with  them.  The  Peace  required  to  be  docked,  for  she 
needed  paint,  and  the  palm  oil  had  done  much  mischief  to 
her  engines.  She  was  put  on  her  old  slipway  at  Leopoldville, 
and  while  Charters  worked  at  the  engine  fittings,  Whitley 
attended  to  the  painting  and  repairing  of  the  hull. 

On  April  3 Charters  and  Whitley  brought  us  over  letters 
conveying  the  distressing  news  that  Darling  and  Shindler 
had  both  died  at  Underhill  within  an  hour  of  each  other  on 
March  9,  1887.  Thomas  Comber  was  there  at  the  time,  and 
had  done  his  best  to  nurse  them,  but  his  efforts  were  un- 
availing. Shindler  had  caught  a fever  through  exposure  to 
the  sun  while  attending  to  the  unloading  of  a steamer,  and 
was  ill  only  three  days.  Darling  was  married  to  Miss  Seed 
on  January  14.  On  March  5,  he  had  a fever  which  proved 
very  obstinate ; this  was  soon  complicated  with  pyaemia,  which 
brought  about  the  fatal  termination.  Shindler  had  arrived 
with  me  only  six  months  previously.  Mrs.  Darling  (also 
my  fellow  passenger  in  coming  out)  after  two  months  of  happy 


144  NEIV  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 18S6-90 


wedded  life  had  to  return  to  England  a widow.  Comber 
was  greatly  grieved  and  depressed  at  this  double  loss  at  the 
same  time  and  place  ; he  was  already  overdone  by  the  anxieties 
of  the  nursing.  He  wrote:  ‘As  to  our  loss,  what  can  we 
say?  At  times  I have  felt  like  crying  out  with  Gideon,  “O 
my  Lord,  if  the  Lord  be  with  us,  why  then  is  all  this  befallen 
us  ?”  But  He  has  sent  us  to  this  work,  and  has  promised  us, 
“ Certainly  I will  be  with  j’ou.”  We  can  but  bow  our  heads 
to  this  blow,  and  say,  “ It  is  the  Lord  ; let  Him  do  what 
seemeth  Him  good.  His  way  is  in  the  sea.  His  path  in 
the  great  waters,  and  His  footsteps  are  not  known.”  ’ Comber 
escorted  Mrs.  Darling  to  the  coast,  and  commended  her  to 
the  captain  of  the  home-going  steamer.  He  then  found  a 
Portuguese  steamer  going  to  Mosamedes,  so  he  took  a sea- 
trip  there  and  back  of  eighteen  days.  He  wrote  to  his  father  : — 
‘ I am  a little  run  down  bodily  and  mentally,  and  need  this 
little  rest.  What  has  happened  has  quite  unhinged  me.’ 

It  was  on  Sunday,  April  3,  that  Whitley  and  Charters 
brought  us  this  sad  news  ; they  found  us  in  great  anxiety. 
Miss  Spearing  had  been  very  seriously  ill  for  five  days  with 
haemoglobinuric  fever.  The  worst  symptom  had  disappeared, 
and  we  were  hoping  that  she  would  rally.  This  fever  leaves 
the  patient  in  a very  weak  and  critical  state  ; for  a fortnight 
at  least  great  care  is  needed.  We  did  not  venture  to  tell 
her  of  the  sad  news  which  we  had  received  ; she  was  in  too 
weak  a condition.  She  had  taken  a good  amount  of  nourish- 
ment during  her  illness,  but  was  very  prostrate ; in  the 
evening  she  passed  away.  Gentle,  devoted,  brave,  and  true, 
Grenfell  well  wrote  of  her  Through  all  her  life  and  work 
there  was  ever  manifest  that  devotion  to  duty,  that  quiet 
patience,  that  loving  trust  in  Him  who  is  over  all,  and  that 
closeness  of  communion  with  the  Divine,  which  deeply  im- 
pressed all  who  knew'  her  with  the  eminent  and  special 
saintliness  of  her  character ; of  a truth  it  may  be  said,  “ She 
walked  with  God.”  ’ In  her  last  letter  to  Mr.  Baynes,  she 
wu'ote : ‘ The  work  out  here  is  very  blessed.  I love  it 

intensely.  Workers  may  die,  but,  thank  God,  the  w'ork  will 
go  on,  and  I cannot  believe  He  will  permit  it  to  languish 


NE IV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SH(\  90  145 

or  go  back.  Do  not,  I pray  you,  dear  Mr.  Baynes,  be  dis- 
couraged. There  is  a bright  and  blessed  future  for  the  Congo 
Mission.  I am  quite  confident  of  this.’ 

News  reached  us  that  Mr.  Stanley  had  arrived  at  Banana 
in  command  of  a great  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Emin 
Bey ; he  had  with  him  700  men  and  several  white  officers. 
About  April  18,  1887,  we  received  a letter  from  him,  an- 
nouncing his  approach  with  a large  number  of  men.  In  view 
of  the  great  difficulty  that  there  would  be  in  finding  food  for 
them  all,  he  expressed  the  hope  that  we  would  lend  him  the 
Peace,  and  help  him  to  get  away  up  river  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  Peace  had  only  taken  up  scanty  supplies  to  Lukolela  in 
January;  we  knew  that  Richards  and  Darby  were  badly  in 
need  of  further  supplies : at  the  same  time  the  departure  of 
Stanley  was  a matter  of  the  highest  importance  to  all  at  the 
Pool.  We  were  on  the  verge  of  starvation  as  it  was  ; what 
would  happen  with  7C0  more  mouths  to  fill  we  did  not  know. 
There  was  great  point  in  his  urgency,  and  in  consultation  with 
my  colleagues  we  felt  that  we  had  better  lend  the  steamer. 
In  writing  Stanley  to  this  effect,  we  told  him  of  the  grave 
difficulty  which  we  felt  in  making  the  loan  ; we  feared  that 
something  might  happen  to  prejudice  the  character  of  the 
Peace,  and  we  sought  an  assurance  that  he  would  see  that 
the  Peace  was  in  no  way  mixed  up  in  fighting  or  in  punitive 
acts.  He  replied,  giving  his  word  of  honour  that  this  stipula- 
tion of  ours  should  be  faithfully  observed. 

On  April  19  Stanley  reached  Leopoldville,  and  early  next 
morning  I went  to  see  him.  When  he  learned  the  state  in 
which  the  Peace  then  was,  he  was  very  annoyed.  He  was 
suspicious  that  we  had  pulled  the  engines  to  pieces,  so  as 
to  unfit  her  for  service,  and  thus  avoid  the  loan  of  her. 
I assured  him  that  there  was  no  such  idea  in  our  minds,  and 
told  him  of  the  fire,  and  its  disastrous  results.  I told  him 
to  send  his  own  engineers  to  examine  and  report.  We 
believed  that  the  Peace  would  be  ready  in  ten  days  ; but  if 
she  could  be  made  ready  earlier  by  any  help  that  he  could 
accord,  we  should  be  very  glad.  He  was  very  vexed  at  this, 
and  asked  what  his  700  men  were  to  live  on  for  ten  days. 


146  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  . 1886-90 


We  could  only  regret  that  facts  were  as  they  were.  The 
engineers  reported  that  our  estimate  was  a very  fair  one. 
An  hour  later  Stanley  said  that  if  any  disaster  befell  the 
expedition  through  the  delay,  it  would  be  laid  to  the  account 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

Shortly  after  starting,  the  Peace  met  with  a serious  acci- 
dent. Stanley  was  on  board  of  her ; she  was  towing  a large 
and  heavy  lighter.  Just  in  front  of  Kinshasa  there  are  two 
rocky  islands,  between  which  a very  strong  current  flows. 
The  Peace  had  nearly  struggled  with  her  lighter  through  the 
strong  water,  when  she  began  to  fail.  The  current  almost  swept 
her  on  to  the  rocky  point  at  the  head  of  the  lower  island. 
Whitley  promptly  let  go  the  anchor,  which  held,  and  made 
her  swing  clear  of  the  rocks.  When  she  had  finished  swinging, 
the  drag  of  the  chain  was  so  great  in  the  strong  current, 
that  it  nearly  pulled  her  bow  under  the  water.  Whitley 
ordered  full  speed  ahead,  and  in  the  nick  of  time  cut  the 
chain  with  an  axe.  The  helm  was  put  hard  over,  but  it 
snapped  in  two,  and  the  steamer  was  no  longer  governable. 
She  swung  round,  and  headed  for  the  shore,  and  the  great 
peril  was  passed.  On  examination  of  the  fracture,  it  was 
found  that  if  two  strong  plates  were  bolted  on  either  side, 
the  rudder  might  yet  serve  until  a new  one  could  arrive  out. 
Charters  and  Whitley  hurried  over  to  Leopoldville,  and, 
working  all  day  and  night,  they  were  back  at  Kinshasa  before 
dawn  with  the  rudder  mended.  Next  day  the  Peace  was 
lightened  by  making  the  crowd  of  people,  who  were  on  her 
and  on  the  lighter,  walk  beyond  the  two  islands,  and  she  was 
able  to  pass  through  the  strong  water.  Stanley  and  his  men 
then  went  on  board,  and  so  the  expedition  started  off  again. 
The  Peace  did  not  travel  well  for  some  distance,  until 
Charters  managed  to  arrange  something  in  the  steam-chest ; 
then  she  went  much  better.  He  also  rendered  signal  assis- 
tance to  the  expedition,  when  the  largest  steamer  ran  upon 
a snag,  which  penetrated  the  plates,  and  stuck  up  inside. 
The  snag  was  cut  away,  and  a new  plate  riveted  over  the 
hole.  Stanley  kept  his  promise,  and  there  was  nothing  what- 
ever to  prejudice  the  Peace’s  character. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  147 


Tipu-tib  was  away  from  Stanley  Falls  when  the  fight- 
ing occurred  between  the  Arabs  and  the  State.  Stanley, 
before  returning  to  the  Congo  this  time,  went  round  to 
Zanzibar,  and  induced  Tipu-tib  to  go  back  to  Stanley  Falls 
by  way  of  the  west  coast,  and  to  serve  the  State  as  District 
Commissioner  at  the  Falls ; thus  restoring  the  State’s  in- 
fluence and  authority  without  further  bloodshed.  Tipu- 
tib  called  on  us  when  in  camp  near  Arthington.  His 
interpreter  informed  us  that  ‘ Mr.  Tipu-tib,  he  been  a very 
bad  man,  wicked  too  much  ; but  he  has  changed,  and  become 
religious  ; he  is  getting  old.  If  a man  does  not  turn  religious 
at  fifty  years  of  age,  when  will  he?’  We  all  felt  that  it  was 
high  time.  There  are  many  men  who  might  take  ‘ Mr.  Tipu- 
tib’s  ’ advice  in  this  matter.  May  some  who  have  been 
uninfluenced  by  other  voices  for  fifty  years  weigh  the  question 
propounded  by  the  Mohammedan  slaver  ! 

I finished  the  writing  of  the  Kongo  Grammar  three  weeks  . 
befoi'e  Stanley  came ; when  his  expedition  had  gone  up  river, 

I was  free  for  an  itineration  which  I had  long  wanted  to 
make.  I was  feeling  out  of  sorts,  and  needed  a change,  so 
I started  on  June  4 on  a missionary  tour  south  and  east  of 
Stanley  Pool. 

Before  I went  home  on  furlough  such  a trip  would  not 
have  been  possible.  Since  my  return  there  had  been  so  much 
change  and  hard  work  at  Arthington,  and  when  the  Peace 
was  away  only  one  was  at  the  station,  so  the  itineration  was 
not  practicable.  These  difficulties  were  then  removed,  and 
the  people  had  become  used  to  hearing  of  white  men,  so 
a fitting  time  had  arrived. 

The  first  town  visited  was  Lemba,  where  resided  Makoko, 
one  of  the  most  important  chiefs  of  the  neighbourhood. 
Makoko  was  very  cordial,  and  wanted  to  know  why  it  had 
been  so  long  before  we  paid  him  a visit.  I soon  explained 
that,  however.  I had  been  very  curious  as  to  what  sort  of 
man  this  great  chief  might  be,  and  the  town  of  which  I had  so 
often  heard.  Rounding  the  side  of  a house,  I came  in  sight  of 
a man  sitting  on  a mat  on  the  ground,  a log  of  wood  before 
him.  The  guide  told  me  that  he  was  Makoko.  We  smiled 


148  NEPV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : IHSG  90 


and  shook  hands.  I sat  down  in  the  shade  near  to  him,  and 
managed  the  first  compliments.  The  hair  of  his  head  had 
been  clean  shaved  four  or  five  days  previously,  and  had 
slightly  grown  since.  On  his  head  was  a small,  dirty  skull-cap, 
of  pineapple  fibre,  edged  with  a strip  of  red  list.  His  face  had 
been,  anointed  a day  or  two  before  with  palm  oil,  then 
sprinkled  with  powdered  cam-wood,  and  after  this  splashed 
with  water.  He  appeared  as  if  his  face  had  been  greased  and 
then  exposed  to  charcoal  dust  from  the  funnel  of  an  engine. 
His  dark  blue  loin-cloth  was  very  dusty.  Altogether,  royalt)' 
was  not  very  impressive.  He  did  not  know  that  I was 
coming. 

For  the  last  half-hour  I had  been  feeling  very  unwell  ; my 
eyes  burning,  and  slight  headache  warned  me  of  fever. 
Very  seldom  have  I been  ill  on  a journey.  Only  four  or  five 
times  can  I recall  a fever  when  travelling.  All  necessary 
medicines  were  with  me.  I lay  down  for  an  hour  in  the 
house  lent  to  me,  but  the  people  wanted  to  see  me,  and 
grumbled  at  my  seclusion.  Although  I felt  unwell,  I got 
up  and  walked  round  the  town  with  the  chief’s  son  and 
some  other  lads.  It  was  large  for  an  African  town,  and 
was  composed  of  a number  of  clusters  of  houses,  separated 
by  a few  yards  of  jungle.  The  chief’s  enclosure,  for  in- 
stance, consisted  of  twelve  or  thirteen  houses  radiating  from 
the  centre  of  a clear  circular  court  about  forty  yards 
across,  one  house  being  larger  than  the  rest.  He  used  to 
have  fifteen  wives,  but  three  w'ere  dead  ; he,  however,  seriously 
thought  of  bringing  up  the  establishment  to  the  original 
number.  His  children  had  been  sixteen  sons  and  two 
daughters. 

The  town  was  composed  of  such  clusters,  ranging  from  four 
to  eight  houses  each.  I passed  through  a great  number  of 
these  groups  of  houses.  In  one  of  the  first,  the  people  felt 
awkward,  and  did  not  know  what  to  do  or  say.  A little  boy 
w^as  very  frightened,  so  I sat  down  near  to  his  father  to 
soothe  these  fears,  and  w'e  were  soon  chatting  together  as 
best  we  could.  The  people  were  Bambunu,  and  their 
language  differed  a good  deal  from  Kongo  ; but  many  Congo 


NEJV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  149 


traders  had  been  to  the  town,  so  that  simple  matters  were 
fairly  understood.  After  a little  we  resumed  our  tour  of 
the  town.  As  we  neared  one  compound,  the  head  of  the 
household  called  out  that  he  knew  nothing  of  my  business,  so 
the  boys  who  were  piloting  me  about  said,  ‘ Let  us  go 
away,  he  does  not  want  you.’  Some  conservative  souls  think 
that  the  advent  of  white  men  is  an  unmixed  evil.  Without 
a word,  I followed  the  boys  elsewhere.  No  one  else  was  in 
any  way  discourteous ; most  were  very  pleased  at  the  visit. 

While  wandering  in  the  town  a boy  came  smiling  up,  ‘ Do 
not  know  me,  Ngeleze  (English).’  I could  see  some  familiar 
features  in  the  face,  but  it  was  fully  three  years  since  I had 
seen  him.  ‘I  remember  you,  but  what  is  your  name?’ 

‘ Manjele.  Do  you  not  remember,  I used  to  teach  you  Kiteke 
at  KintambuP’  Then  I recollected  the  boy  who  used  to 
hobble  up  the  hill  with  his  bejiggered  toes,  and  give  me 
words.  Manjele  joined  my  pilots,  and  soon  an  old  mate 
was  coming  towards  us.  ‘Mpcol’  shouted  Manjele,  ‘here’s 
Bendele.’  Mpeo  asked  if  1 knew  him.  1 remembered  the 
face,  and  of  course  knew  his  name,  for  it  had  just  been 
mentioned.  He  was  delighted  at  the  recognition.  The  old 
friendships  with  such  boys  are  not  forgotten  by  them,  and 
always  give  us  a special  influence  over  them. 

On  returning  we  found  that  three  fowls  had  been  bought. 
We  had  tried  in  the  town,  but  prices  were  too  high  ; they 
were  not  satisfactory  either  in  the  case  of  those  bought.  The 
chiefs  son  interfered  and  got  back  three  brass  rods,  and  gave 
one  to  the  seller  of  one  fowl  whieh  was  too  cheaply  sold. 
Such  interference  indicated  a very  kindly  and  just  feeling. 

I was  now  in  a fairly  high  fever,  so  was  glad  to  get  into 
the  house,  and  lie  down  again.  My  fevers  run  such  a simple 
course,  that  I did  not  fear  any  evil  result  from  walking  into 
the  town. 

Very  soon  after  I lay  down,  the  chief  came  in  to  see  me, 
bringing  a calabash  of  palm-wine,  and  a lot  of  friends  and 
retainers  who  filled  the  house.  I declined  to  drink,  but  it 
was  all  with  such  good  intent  that  I would  not  ask  them  to 
go.  They  honoured  me  in  what  is  considered  a most  proper 


150  NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1S86-90 


style.  Had  I cleared  them  out,  they  would  have  considered 
me  proud  and  ungracious,  and  much  harm  would  have  been 
done. 

Makoko  made  quite  a state  ceremony  of  drinking  palm 
wine.  First,  he  rubbed  his  finger  on  the  ground,  and  made 
a dusty  line  round  his  waist,  then  from  his  throat  to  the  line  ; 
he  took  off  his  girdle  to  which  his  knife  was  attached  (a  wise 
precaution  before  incurring  any  risk  of  drunkenness).  As  he 
raised  the  cup  to  his  lips,  a man  sang  an  ode  fitting  to  the 
occasion,  Makoko  occasionally  suggesting  themes  to  be  brought 
into  the  song.  Each  time  he  partook  of  the  wine,  which  was 
rather  frequently,  some  one  sang  a song. 

Mrs.  Makoko  was  by  his  side,  and  when  her  turn  came  to 
drink  no  one  paid  much  attention,  so  Makoko  asked  whether 
they  did  not  sing  whilst  his  wife  was  drinking.  At  once 
a song  was  started.  The  calabash  contained  a good  quantity, 
and  we  chatted  between  times,  Makoko  resting  his  back 
against  my  travelling  bed.  Sometimes  he  felt  my  hot  hand, 
to  see  if  the  fire  in  my  body  was  lessening.  He  suggested 
that  when  he  was  gone  I should  have  a wash  in  cold  water 
to  cool  me.  When  they  did  go,  I found  that  my  temperature 
was  going  down,  so  I took  a good  dose  of  quinine,  and 
arranged  things  for  the  night.  The  next  morning  there  was 
no  fever,  but  I felt  just  a little  bit  shaky.  Makoko  was  glad 
to  find  my  hand  cool. 

There  was  no  arranging  any  preaching.  The  people  had 
never  heard  of  such  a thing  as  massing  themselves  to  listen 
to  God’s  palaver ; I did  not  even  try.  Anything  like  that 
takes  time,  and  much  greater  intimacy  than  one  journey 
could  bring  about.  Instead,  I tried  to  find  opportunities  for 
talk,  and  five  or  six  times  during  the  day  1 talked  to  Makoko 
and  those  who  were  about.  Most  of  the  talk  in  broken  Kongo,, 
interspersed  with  Kiteke;  and  when  that  failed,  I appealed  to 
the  interpreter.  I was  thus  able  to  give  Makoko  a good  idea 
of  our  errand  and  the  blessed  message  we  brought.  He  hoped 
that  we  should  soon  come  again,  and  I told  him  to  expect  m}’" 
colleagues  before  long,  and  many  visits.  I was  going  up  the 
river,  but  should  not  like  to  have  gone  without  visiting  him. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  151 


Makoko  had  visited  San  Salvador,  and  stayed  with  the  king 
a long  time  ago. 

The  interpreter  and  guide  was  Masanda,  a Muteke  from 
Kinshasa,  who  had  been  for  some  time  in  the  employment 
of  our  friend  and  neighbour,  Mr.  A.  Greshoff,  of  the  Dutch 
Trading  Company.  He  willingly  lent  me  his  man,  who 
knew  the  country  well,  and  spoke  good  Kongo.  Masanda 
persuaded  me  to  extend  my  journey,  and  to  visit  Nga  Nkari, 
a great  chief  of  the  Bamfunu,  who  lived  east  of  Stanley  Pool. 
Their  tattoo  is  like  that  of  the  Bateke,  the  face  being  scored 
with  fine  cicatrices  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  apart.  He 
assured  me  that  the  town  would  not  be  more  than  two  good 
days  from  Lemba. 

Accordingly,  I sent  a message  to  Arthington,  and  started 
again  on  the  extended  journey.  Going  down  a long  steady 
slope,  and  across  the  plain  eastward,  we  came  to  the  Jidi 
river.  Beside  it  was  the  town  of  Jidi,  Ngw'a  Lulala’s.  A 
number  of  Bayansi  traders  from  the  upper  river  ascended  the 
river  so  far  to  trade  with  the  Lemba  people,  and  the  Bakongo 
came  there  to  buy  from  them.  We  did  not  enter  the  town, 
but  passed  on  to  two  Bayansi  colonies,  a little  lower  down. 
The  first  people  were  agreeable,  but  the  second  asked  us 
not  to  go  on  to  them.  Bakuti,  the  chief,  was  a huge 
fellow,  over  six  feet  high,  and  thick-set  even  out  of  proportion 
to  his  height,  his  face  marked  with  small-pox.  I had  often 
seen  him  at  Kinshasa.  The  river  was  fifty  yards  wide,  and 
four  feet  deep,  with  a swift  current  and  sandy  bottom.  We 
must  have  been  four  or  five  miles  from  its  mouth.  Some  of 
the  men  waded,  but  I crossed  by  canoe.  Two  miles  further 
on  w'e  crossed  a very  small  stream,  and  entered  Kimbangu. 
This  little  stream,  a yard  or  two  wide,  affords  a navigable 
waterway  from  Stanley  Pool  to  Kimbangu,  a distance  of 
about  three  miles. 

The  Bayansi  were  in  the  habit  of  pushing  their  canoes 
along  through  the  papyrus  and  grass,  which  almost  meets 
over  them,  and  they  mustered  in  good  numbers  at 
Kimbangu.  The  chief,  Mongadi,  was  a Mumbunu  ; he  was 
pleased  to  be  thus  visited,  and  was  very  agreeable.  I took 


152  NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : m6-90 


lunch  in  the  town,  and  walked  about  to  see  the  people. 
There  were  swarms  of  children,  many  of  whom  were  slaves. 
It  was  a large  town,  but  I did  not  feel  sure  as  to  the  distance 
to  be  traversed,  so  pushed  on  five  and  a half  miles  further  to 
Mikunga.  The  chief  was  away  selling  ivory,  and  no  one 
knew  what  to  do,  or  cared  to  talk,  so  I took  up  the  last 
Baptist  Magazine  and  read.  Two  or  three  wanted  to  see 
the  book,  so  I showed  them  the  portrait  of  Dr.  Maclaren. 
They  were  greatly  astonished  ; it  looked  like  a real  face,  but 
yet  it  was  a book.  Others  came,  and  we  very  soon  were 
on  a pleasanter  footing.  There  were  a good  number  of  the 
Bayansi  there.  The  houses  of  their  colony  crowded  together 
at  the  head  of  a little  creek,  which  affords  another  waterway 
through  the  grass  from  Stanley  Pool. 

These  Bayansi  came  down  in  such  numbers  from  the  upper 
river  that  they  became  a very  important  factor  in  the 
population  of  all  the  Pool-side  towns.  Keen  traders,  brave, 
hardy,  and  enterprising,  they  might  soon  have  become 
masters  of  the  situation  about  there,  if  the  white  men  had 
not  come. 

Mikunga  was  a large  township.  We  stayed  at  the  Mbanza, 
or  chief  town,  and  secured  the  chief  of  one  of  the  suburbs  as 
guide  for  the  next  stage. 

Our  road  led  us  inland  eastward.  After  two  hours  we 
came  to  a place  to  which,  our  guide  told  us,  Nga  Nkari, 
the  chief  of  the  Bamfunu,  came  every  three  years  to  receive 
tribute  from  all  the  towns  on  that  side  of  the  Jidi,  including 
Kimbangu  and  Mikunga  and  some  di.stance  inland.  A little 
further  on  we  came  to  the  first  town  of  the  Bamfunu.  Here 
the  people,  language,  houses,  and  style  of  life  had  all  changed  ; 
they  were  quiet  folk  living  in  small  villages  scattered  widely 
apart  among  the  hills. 

Halting  at  noon,  we  had  to  fetch  our  water  from  Mpieme, 
half  an  hour  distant.  Presently  some  Bamfunu  came  down 
the  hill.  They  were  coming  from  Nga  Nkari’s,  and  were 
conducting  a man  whose  neck  was  fast  in  a forked  stick,  the 
end  of  which  was  attached  to  the  wrist  of  his  leader.  It 
was  the  first  time  I had  seen  the  ‘ fork  ’ used.  I first  felt  sick 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1S86-90  153 


at  the  sight,  then  angry,  then  asked,  ‘ Why,  what  were  they 
going  to  do  with  the  man  ? ’ They  said  that  some  people  in 
one  of  the  quiet  little  towns  recently  passed  had  captured  one 
of  Nga  Nkari’s  people.  They  retaliated  by  catching  another 
man  of  that  town,  and  now  they  were  going  to  exchange 
captives,  and  so  settle  the  palaver.  It  was  not  so  bad,  then, 
after  all. 

Climbing  the  hill  next  morning,  we  crossed  the  plateau  for 
two  and  a half  hours  without  a sight  of  water,  or  a likely 


A PRISONER  OF  WAR 


place  for  it  even,  the  level  of  underground  springs  being  500 
feet  at  least  below  us.  From  the  point  reached  we  could  see 
Bwende,  and  our  guide  indicated  the  road  to  the  spring  whence 
the  townsfolk  obtained  water — nearly  an  hour’s  walk  each 
way ! After  crossing  a deep  valley  we  reached  Bwende, 
a small  village  in  a dense  forest.  From  Bwende  the  road 
wound  about  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  for  a while,  then  we 
entered  it  and  descended  a strange  ridge,  on  either  side  very 
steep  and  densely  wooded  ; the  ridge  down  which  our  path 
VOL.  II.  L 


154  new  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1S86-90 


lay  was  often  not  more  than  ten  feet  wide,  sometimes  less. 
Forest  everywhere  ; what  we  could  be  coming  to,  it  was 
impossible  to  telk  The  ridge  led  us  up  a little  to  the 
summit  of  another  descent.  Trees  had  fallen  across  the  path, 
and  sometimes  the  men  had  to  put  their  loads  on  the  ground, 
crawl  under  a tree  and  drag  their  load  after  them,  the  under- 
growth being  too  thick  to  allow  us  to  pass  round  the  obstacle. 
Presently  we  came  to  daylight,  and  emerged  on  a narrow 
ridge.  On  one  side  a steep  forest  slope,  on  the  other  a grand 
sight — a gorge,  900  feet  deep,  and  half  a mile  wide,  extending 
far  into  the  plateau  ; the  blackest  forest  everywhere  in  it,  and 
on  its  sides,  except  a cliff  of  gleaming  white  sand  of  about 
200  feet  in  height,  commencing  from  about  5C0  feet  up.  In 
front  lay  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Ntsele,  flanked  on  either 
side  by  the  plateau,  1,100  feet  above  the  river.  On  the 
opposite  plateau  was  Nga  Nkari’s  ; much  forest  everywhere. 
Behind  we  saw  Bwende  village  perched  on  the  edge  of 
a precipice  almost  perpendicularly  over  the  canon. 

The  Ntsele  valley  is  about  five  miles  wide,  i,ico  feet  deep. 
The  river,  a swift  stream,  about  thirty  yards  wide,  no  sounding 
at  six  feet.  The  bridge  consisted  of  a rope  of  liana  from  one 
side  to  an  overhanging  tree ; two  others  were  suspended 
one  above  the  other,  and  connected  with  the  undermost  bj- 
a web  of  lianas.  To  cross  it  the  passenger  faced  the  web 
and  clung  to  it,  progressing  sideways.  When  I crossed  I was 
knee-deep  in  the  swift  water,  feeling  my  way  carefully  along 
the  rope. 

The  ascent  to  the  opposite  plateau  occupied  an  hour  and 
a quarter — a very  steep  climb.  The  slopes  on  both  sides  were 
cleared  in  many  places,  plantations  of  Indian  corn  and  manioc 
of  hundreds  of  acres.  The  plateau  near  Nga  Nkari’s  is  not 
broken  by  gorges,  and  stretches  eastward  far  away  beyond 
the  horizon.  After  flanking  the  valley  for  an  hour,  we  drew 
near  to  the  town.  It  was  a fine  old  town ; there  were  many 
great  trees,  and  broad,  clean  paths.  Soon  we  came  to  an 
avenue,  midway  in  which  sat  a man  on  leopard  skins  with 
a number  of  people  before  him  engaged  in  some  palaver. 
We  passed  him  and  went  on  to  his  compound  without  speaking. 


■I  UK  NTSELK  VAI.LKY 


156  NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  ; 1SS6-90 


Nga  Nkari  soon  rose  from  the  palaver  and  came  near  us. 
His  two  beautiful  leopard  skins  were  spread,  every  one  sat 
on  the  ground,  and  when  all  was  still,  Nga  Nkari  sat  down. 
Then  a long  awkward  pause.  Some  one  came  and  shook 
hands.  Others  followed  suit ; and  then  the  heir-apparent ; 
he  had  a broad  stripe  of  yellow  ochre  down  his  forehead. 
Then  Nga  Nkari  rose  and  came  forward,  and  I stood  up 
to  shake  hands  with  him.  He  was  a little  nervous,  his 
hands  trembled.  After  this  we  took  our  seats  and  examined 
each  other.  He  was  a tall,  well-made  man  ; he  had  a long 
face,  grey  hair,  and  was  wearing  a good  cloth  edged  with 
red  list ; his  bearing  was  dignified  ; a more  chief-like  man 
was  not  often  met  with. 

After  arranging  about  a house,  he  came  to  chat,  and  again 
after  dinner.  For  the  last  two  days  we  were  in  country  where 
no  white  man  had  ever  been,  so  that  everything  about  me 
was  wonderful.  They  were  astonished  at  matches,  the  stick 
which  took  fire  when  it  was  rubbed  ; a candle,  the  fire  that 
burnt  and  burnt  without  consuming  its  fuel.  ‘What  oil? 
what  is  it?’  they  asked.  ‘Palm  oil.’  They  looked  at  each 
other,  as  much  as  to  say,  ‘ He  does  not  like  to  tell  us,  and 
so  says  that  it  is  palm  oil  ; we  know  it  cannot  be  that. 
Perhaps  it  is  human  fat.  Who  knows  what  these  dreadful 
white  men  do!’  We  are  believed  to  be  cannibals  by  many 
folk.  They  would  watch  a candle  burning  by  the  hour 
together ; to  them  it  was  a miracle  of  nature.  My  compass, 
watch,  boots,  clothes,  blankets,  in  fact  everything,  was 
marvellous.  The  next  day  I walked  about  the  town,  but 
could  not  talk  to  the  people,  or  they  understand  me,  except 
by  interpreter.  I learned  that  they  had  communications 
with  the  Kwangu  river,  and  with  the  Bakundi  people.  The 
road  was  that  by  which  I entered  the  town.  The  people 
had  no  markets,  and  there  was  not  much  trade  and  inter- 
communication in  consequence ; due  also,  I fear,  to  mutual 
distrust  and  greed.  I should  think,  though,  that  these 
Bamfunu  are  the  material  for  a fine  people  in  the  future. 

I could  not  do  much  talking,  for  the  interpreter  only  spoke 
Kiteke.  I tried  several  times  to  get  them  to  understand 


NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  ; 18S6-90  157 


something  more  fully  about  us  and  our  message ; but  the 
uninterested  look  and  inattention  showed  that  little  was  fully 
understood.  However,  we  made  friends,  and  liked  each 
other.  They  showed  their  town,  explained  the  weaving  of 
mats  and  their  own  wonders  to  me.  Nga  Nkari  wanted  me  to 
stop,  for  there  was  no  beer  ready.  I did  not  want  beer,  nor 
could  I stay.  They  evidently  intended  to  have  their  beer 
notwithstanding,  for  they  fetched  a great  basket  of  malted 
maize  from  the  house,  and  in  the  afternoon  ten  women  ranged 
themselves  beside  a long  trough,  and  pounded  it  with  pestles 
six  feet  long,  laughing  and  chatting,  singing  and  dancing  ; 
some  with  the  baby  tied  behind  them,  shaken  and  shocked 
by  every  blow  of  the  pestle  ; none  the  worse  for  it,  though. 
Two  women  sifted  the  malt  meal  by  pouring  it  in  a heap,  and 
taking  away  the  large  pieces  which  rolled  furthest  away 
from  the  centre.  Next  day  they  would  brew,  and  then 
a carousal. 

Most  people  had  something  to  do  : basket  making,  mat 
weaving,  cane  splitting,  house  repairs,  hoe  handles,  hair 
trimming,  gun  cleaning,  or  a baby  to  nurse ; the  boys  were 
rat  hunting,  making  and  setting  traps,  and  making  string  ; 
girls  were  helping  their  mothers.  A very  quiet,  simple  life ; 
but  still,  like  other  men,  underneath  the  peaceful  exterior  the 
hard,  cruel,  selfish  heart  ; the  unrenewed  nature  ; the  same 
need  of  a Saviour. 

In  the  evening,  when  all  was  quiet,  Nga  Nkari  and  two  of 
his  wives  paid  me  a visit.  He  was  very  anxious  that  all  the 
great  presents  which  I would  surely  make,  should  not  be 
given  in  public ; every  one  would  want  a share  in  the  spoil. 
He  had  given  a goat,  and  would  actually  be  out  of  pocket. 
I explained  that  we  had  other  aims  and  duties  beside  the 
distribution  of  untold  quantities  of  cloth,  and  did  not  like  the 
secret  business  he  asked  for.  Would  I let  him  see  the  present, 
and  he  would  know  what  to  suggest?  I strongly  objected  to 
this  ; but  he  was  most  urgent,  and  spoke  of  his  difficulties 
and  dangers.  The  interpreter  pleaded,  and  I sent  the  chief 
out.  Alone  with  Masanda  I discussed  the  imprudence  of  so 
doing,  but  he  urged  me  strongly,  and  I yielded.  Nga  Nkari 


158  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS6-90 

was  pleased,  but  he  wanted  more,  wished  one  piece  reserved, 
and  there  was  much  talk. 

In  the  morning  the  goat  had  been  changed,  and  a small, 
wretched  little  beast  stood  in  its  place.  I called  Masanda, 
and  told  him  that  I should  return  his  goat,  and  the  fine 
capons  too,  and  should  not  give  a present.  The  chief 
explained  that  the  man  from  whom  he  obtained  the  goat  was 
demanding  an  exorbitant  price,  since  it  was  going  to  a white 
man.  He  had  given,  therefore,  a goat  of  his  own.  I pitied 
him  in  his  difficulty,  but  persisted  in  refusing  the  small  goat. 
He  then  exchanged  it  for  a fine  goat. 

Then  the  presentation.  He  wished  all  the  cloth  to  be  given 
together  ; after  all,  wanted  more,  and  begged.  The  dignity 
and  propriety  were  gone  when  greed  was  aroused.  I had  to 
remember  those  who  would  come  after  me ; so,  seeing  that 
1 had  done  what  was  fair  and  generous,  I suggested  that  he 
would  not  like  me  to  tell  the  white  men  at  the  Pool  all  about 
Nga  Nkari’s  meanness,  and  what  he  wanted  in  return  for  his 
goat.  This  appeal  to  his  amour  proprc  succeeded  at  once, 
and  he  was  content,  and  wished  me  to  speak  well  of  him  ; so 
we  parted  good  friends,  he  hoping  to  receive  another  visit 
soon. 

The  road  descended  at  once  from  the  plateau  into  the 
Ntsele  valley,  and  a march  of  about  nineteen  miles  north- 
west by  north  brought  us  to  Kimpoko.  At  Kimpoko  the 
brethren  of  the  American  Episcopal  Mission  received  me 
very  kindly.  Bishop  Taylor  had  obtained  an  old  outpost 
from  the  State  ; the  missionaries  lived  in  the  old  house, 
planted  sweet  potatoes,  &c.,  and  supported  themselves  by 
hunting  the  hippos  which  were  then  so  common. 

From  Kimpoko  I took  a canoe  home,  having  been  absent 
eight  days.  I had  travelled  overland  about  sixty  miles. 

By  this  journey  we  obtained  a much  better  idea  of  our 
surroundings  at  Stanley  Pool.  The  north  bank  we  knew 
was  peopled  by  Bateke.  There  was  a considerable  difference 
between  the  language  of  the  Bateke  and  that  of  the  Bamfunu, 
for  the  interpreter,  Masanda,  could  not  properly  understand 
them.  Had  he  not  taken  with  him  a friend  from  Mikungra, 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1880-90  159 


he  would  have  been  unable  to  communicate.  I spoke  to 
Masanda  in  Kongo,  and  he  spoke  to  his  friend  in  Kiteke,  and 
the  friend  spoke  Kimfunu.  The  Bamfunu  are  known  to  the 
Kongo-speaking  people  as  Bamfuninga. 

In  November,  1886,  there  had  been  evidence  of  an  increased 
interest  in  spiritual  things  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  people 
of  San  Salvador.  The  good  seed  had  long  been  sown  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  in  some  it  was  springing  up. 
Cameron,  Silvey,  Graham,  and  Phillips  were  on  the  station, 
but  they  could  only  work  through  interpreters,  and  felt  much 
the  need  of  some  one  more  conversant  with  the  language 
to  deal  with  those  who  were  seeking  the  Saviour.  Weeks 
was  away  at  Madeira  invalided.  When  Comber  heard  of  the 
encouraging  state  of  things  at  San  Salvador,  he  started  off 
to  render  assistance  there  himself. 

On  his  way  down  country  Comber  passed  through  Manteke, 
a station  of  the  American  Mission.  There  also  had  com- 
menced a great  spiritual  awakening,  and  some  forty  people 
had  been  baptized.  At  Underhill  Comber  found  Weeks  just 
returned  from  Madeira  in  greatly  improved  health.  They 
went  up  to  San  Salvador  together,  taking  Scrivener  with 
them.  On  his  way  back  from  San  Salvador  he  wrote : — 

‘ I found,  that  since  my  visit  last  year,  a large  and  really 
pretty  chapel  had  been  built,  capable  of  holding  some  500 
people,  in  which  the  meetings  were  held.  We  arrived  on 
the  Friday,  and  looked  forward  with  glad  anticipation  to  the 
Sunday’s  services.  We  were  very  disappointed  on  Sunday 
morning  to  see  a steady,  small  rain  falling ; it  was  chilly  and 
miserable,  and  so  misty  that  everything  a hundred  yards 
away  was  obscured.  As  it  did  not  clear  up  by  the  time  the 
meeting  was  to  have  commenced,  we  decided  to  give  up 
the  morning  service,  for  the  tall,  drenched  grass  would  give 
most  a severe  wetting.  One  of  our  principal  men  came  in, 
however,  and  urged  us  to  ring  the  bell,  and  have  our  meeting. 
Five  minutes  after  its  being  rung,  the  people  were  swarming 
into  the  chapel,  the  clanking  of  the  women’s  heavy  anklets, 
as  they  passed  the  house,  showing  us  that  they  did  not  mind 
being  wetted.  Some  350  people,  of  whom  nearly  half  were 


i6o  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


women,  came  to  that  service,  in  spite  of  the  bad  weather. 
To  me  it  was  a thrilling  sensation  to  stand  up  to  speak  to 
such  a large  number  of  our  own  Congo  people,  and  as  they 
joined  in  singing  the  opening  hymn  my  heart  went  up  in 
earnest  gratitude  to  God  for  the  encouraging  answer  to  our 
prayers  He  had  given  us.  The  people  listened,  too,  in  a way 
I had  not  noticed  before,  and  as  if,  in  many  cases,  their  own 
experience  was  at  one  with  rrtuch  that  was  said.  Part  of 
John  iii  was  translated,  read,  and  explained,  and  a half-hour’s 
sermon  preached  on  the  words,  “ Old  things  are  passed 
away ; behold,  they  are  become  new,”  all  the  time  the 
people  listening  quietly  and  with  great  attention.  Sunday 
school,  Bible  class,  and  an  evening  service,  attended  in  the 
same  way  as  in  the  morning,  completed  the  services  of  the 
day.  A general  service  was  held  on  the  Wednesday. 

‘ Although  it  is  three  months  since  these  week-evening 
services  were  commenced,  the  attendance  has  never  yet  been 
small,  from  200  to  300  being  present.  Many  an  English 
pastor  would  be  gladdened,  I trow,  to  find  a rush  of  200  to 
300  people  to  his  week-evening  services.  The  people  always 
seem  as  if  they  had  been  waiting  round  the  corner  for  the 
bell  to  ring,  so  immediately  do  they  come  at  the  sound  of 
the  bell.  Often  one  of  the  most  hopeful  is  asked  to  engage 
in  prayer,  and  sometimes  to  say  a few  words  to  the  people  ; 
and  it  is  a delightful  thing  to  hear  them  urging  God’s  truth 
on  their  fellow  countrymen.  As  we  might  have  expected, 
the  most  hopeful  of  these  professing  Christians  are  those  who 
have  been  longest  instructed,  and  who  have  been  our  sturdiest 
friends  throughout.  1 have  more  than  once  mentioned  Matoko, 
our  oldest  and  best  friend  ; D.  Miguel  Ndelengani  (the  black- 
smith) ; D.  Manoel  Mantengo  ; and  D.  Alvaro  Mpanzu  : these 
have  come  out  firmly  and  hopefully,  especially  the  first  three. 
Mantengo,  the  king’s  eldest  son,  is  probably  the  most  in- 
fluential man  in  San  Salvador,  next  to  the  king. 

‘ Some  of  the  king’s  wives  make  profession.  But  how  about 
the  old  king  himself?  I deeply  grieve  to  say  that  his  heart, 
in  the  past  so  easy  to  reach  and  move,  seems  quite  encrusted 
over  with  greed,  pride,  fear,  and  new  superstition,  the  result 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  i6l 


of  the  influence  brought  to  bear  upon  him  by  the  Portuguese 
padres.  Many  talks  I had  with  him  ; I seemed  unable  to 
touch  any  of  the  old  chords.  As,  in  consequence  of  the  large 
numbers  coming  to  our  meetings,  very  few  go  to  the  padres, 
they  have  brought  every  lever  to  bear  upon  the  old  king  to 
make  him  work  against  us,  and  he  has  made  laws  that  his 
people  shall  divide  into  two  parts,  half  to  go  to  the  Portuguese 
services,  and  half  to  attend  ours.  But  for  the  most  part  his 
people  simply  refuse  obedience.  This  has  made  him  very 
angry — angry  with  us,  and  angry  with  his  people.  The 
Romish  priests,  who  are  representatives  officially  of  the  Portu- 
guese Government,  have  threatened  to  withdraw  from  Congo, 
if  the  king  cannot  make  his  people  attend  their  mass,  and 
this  threat  has  frightened  the  king.  Our  following,  however, 
is  such  an  influential  one  that  it  does  as  it  likes,  in  spite 
of  king  and  priests. 

‘ The  king  thought  that  at  least  he  could  rule  his  own 
household,  and  accordingly  ordered  his  wives  not  to  attend 
our  meetings.  On  Wednesday  evening  last  seven  of  them 
came  against  his  orders,  and  he  forbade  their  return,  seeing 
that  they  had  disobeyed  him.  Persuaded  by  his  councillors, 
however,  he  relented,  and  they  were  taken  back.  The  fol- 
lowing evening  they  again  disobeyed,  and  the  poor  old  man 
was  furious.  He  took  gun  and  sword,  and  in  spite  of  his  age 
and  enormous  size,  which  renders  it  difficult  for  him  to  move 
about,  he  came  to  the  outside  of  our  gate,  and  waited  in 
the  dark  for  his  wives.  Immediately  after  the  meeting,  as  the 
people  were  going  to  their  homes,  there  was  a tremendous 
clanking  of  anklets  and  screaming,  as  the  king  was  found 
outside  the  gate ; but  no  harm  came,  only  one  woman  being 
struck  with  the  flat  of  the  king’s  sword.  His  wives,  however, 
were  not  allowed  in  his  enclosure,  and  they  slept  with 
Matoko’s  women. 

‘ The  following  day  three  of  them  came  to  see  me  privately, 
for  a little  encouragement  and  advice  in  their  trouble.  They 
were  very  strongly  determined  not  to  give  up  attending  the 
meetings,  and  one  of  them  said,  '•  Never  mind  if  he  kill  us. 
We  don’t  mind  dying  for  Jesus  ; He  died  for  us.”  I promised 


i62  N£ tv  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lS8Q-dO 


to  go  and  see  the  king  about  it,  and  after  a few  words  to 
them,  and  a little  prayer,  in  which  one  of  them  joined,  they 
went  back  to  Matoko’s  enclosure,  and  I went  to  see  the  king. 

I told  him  that  as  king  he  should  require  obedience  in  many 
things,  but  that  it  was  very  wrong  to  try  to  force  his  people 
in  matters  of  religion,  as  their  souls  wei'e  at  stake.  After 
a long  talk  he  agreed  to  withdraw  his  opposition,  and  to  let 
his  wives  return  to  him,  but  wished  the  time  of  the  evening 
meetings  to  be  altered  to  an  earlier  hour,  so  that  his  wives 
should  be  home  before  dark.  This,  of  course,  we  acceded  to, 
and  hold  our  services  at  five  instead  of  seven. 

‘ There  was  another  similar  instance  of  persecution  on  the 
same  day,  and  a poor  woman  came  for  medicine  for  bruises 
caused  by  the  blows  of  an  angry  husband,  because  she  would 
attend  the  meetings.  With  tears  in  her  eyes  she  cried,  “ I 
don’t  care  if  he  kills  me,  I zvill  follow  God.”  This  is  partly 
obstinacy,  for  Congo  people  can  be  very  obstinate  if  they 
like,  even  to  death,  rather  than  give  up  a point ; but  it  is  not 
all  obstinacy,  there  is  some  love  to  Christ  in  it.  Half  of 
those  who  have  given  in  their  names  as  desirous  of  being 
Christians  are  women,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  at  present 
we  have  no  lady  at  San  Salvador,  for  it  requires  the  utmost 
caution  and  care  in  dealing  with  these  women,  so  as  not  to 
lay  ourselves  open  to  misconstruction.’ 

As  might  be  expected,  many  came  to  the  meetings  because 
others  did,  rather  than  from  any  deep  feelings ; others  were 
very  ignorant  as  to  the  sinfulness  of  their  hearts,  and  as  to 
the  work  of  the  Saviour.  It  was  very  satisfactory,  however, 
to  find  that  the  most  definite  idea  in  the  minds  of  these 
inquirers  was  that  they  must  give  up  sin,  and  live  pure, 
truthful,  righteous  lives.  Often  their  expressions  showed  this 
when  they  seemed  to  understand  nothing  of  the  salvation  of 
Jesus,  and  of  the  life  and  strength  which  come  from  trusting 
in  and  loving  Him,  from  taking  Him  as  their  Saviour.  With 
some,  however,  there  was  the  glad  assertion,  ‘ He  died  for 
me ; He  is  my  Saviour ; I love  Him,  pray  to  Him,  and 
follow  Him.’ 

It  was  felt  that  great  care  was  needed  in  leading  these 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS6-90  163 


people.  Had  there  been  any  inclination  to  baptize  wholesale, 
200  would  have  been  easily  found  who  would  come  forward 
to  receive  the  ordinance,  and  others  would  then  be  ready 
to  follow  suit.  Good  evidence  of  the  life  as  well  as  the  lip 
was  needed  before  any  could  be  admitted  to  Christian 
fellowship.  For  this  time  was  necessary,  and  time  was 
taken.  On  December  2,  1887,  five  were  baptized:  our 
staunch  friends  Matoko  and  D.  Miguel,  the  blacksmith  ; also 
Nlekai,  Luzemba,  and  another.  Lewis,  in  writing  home  the 
good  news,  said,  ‘ Perhaps  the  friends  at  home  will  wonder 
that  we  have  baptized  so  few.  These  are  by  no  means  the 
only  people  who  inquire  after  the  truth.  We  believe  that 
it  is  best  to  be  very  careful  in  admitting  candidates  into 
Church  membership.  A little  delay  will  not  do  harm  to 
those  who  are  real,  and  it  will  help  us  considerably  in  dis- 
tinguishing betw'een  the  true  and  the  false.  The  Africans,  as 
a rule,  like  to  go  in  flocks.  What  one  or  two  will  do  the 
others  follow,  thinking  that  it  is  the  right  thing ; and  this  is 
our  reason  for  baptizing  so  few  just  now.  Those  I baptized 
were  not  new  converts,  but  they  have  been  living  consistent 
Christian  lives  for  some  time.  I think  that  it  will  be  our 
pleasure  to  baptize  many  more  soon. 

‘ I have  been  deeply  interested  in  the  different  ways  in 
which  these  were  brought  to  the  Saviour.  One,  a personal 
boy  of  our  late  brother  Hartland,  who  can  read  English  well, 
was  touched  by  reading  the  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins. 
Another  evidently  was  brought  to  Christ  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  our  late  brother  Darling.  How  these  brethren 
would  have  rejoiced  to  have  been  with  us  last  Sunday 
evening,  as  we  sat  together  for  the  first  time  at  the  Lord's 
Table ! They  have  passed  away,  but  their  work  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  Congo.  “ One  soweth  and  another  reapeth.”  ’ 

On  December  4,  1887,  a Christian  Church  was  formed  of 
these  five  converts,  and  since  then  more  than  200  have  been 
received  into  fellowship  there.  Our  story  until  this  point 
has  been  almost  exclusively  one  of  travel,  exploration,  station 
building,  and  transport ; a short-handed  struggle  with  great 
difficulties,  and  often  indeed  a story  of  death.  We  gladly 


t64  new  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS6-90 


welcome  another  element,  the  founding  of  Christian  Churches 
and  the  salvation  of  precious  souls  ‘ for  whom  Christ  died.’ 

Comber  stayed  a fortnight  at  San  Salvador,  and  then 
started  at  the  end  of  February  to  return  to  his  own  station  at 
Wathen.  He  reached  Underhill  to  find  Darling  ill ; later  on 
Shindler  fell  sick,  and  we  have  already  noted  how  he  nursed 
them  until  they  both  died  on  March  19.  Much  distressed,, 
and  feeling  run  down  mentally  and  bodily,  Comber  gladly 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  arrival  of 
the  Portuguese  mail  steamer  to  take  a run  to  Mosamedes 
and  back.  On  his  return  he  was  but  little  benefited  by 
the  change.  He  was  very  weary  when  he  started  out  from 
England  this  last  time.  He  really  needed  a spell  of  quietness 
and  rest  before  his  return,  but  it  was  not  possible,  and  he 
went  out  unfit  to  bear  the  strain  of  anxious  responsibility 
which  came  upon  him  on  his  return  to  the  work.  He  never 
really  recovered  from  the  shock  caused  by  the  two  deaths, 
within  an  hour  of  each  other,  of  Darling  and  Shindler.  On 
his  return  from  Mosamedes  he  learned  of  the  death  of  Miss 
Spearing.  He  remained  at  Underhill  for  a month,  far  from 
well,  but  attending  to  the  affairs  of  his  dead  colleagues,  and 
to  many  business  matters  connected  with  the  mission.  His 
correspondence  was  very  burdensome ; there  was  always  so 
much  to  direct  and  arrange. 

On  June  14,  1887,  Comber  was  attacked  by  a fever  of  the 
worst  type.  Dr.  Small,  of  the  American  Mission,  very  kindly 
undertook  to  treat  him.  The  bad  haemoglobinuric  symptoms 
disappeared,  and  it  was  hoped  that  with  care  he  would  rally, 
but  on  June  19  the  fever  I'eturned  with  increased  power. 
Next  day  by  means  of  cold  sponging  the  fever  was  reduced, 
although  the  bad  symptom  remained.  It  was  felt  that  the 
only  chance  to  save  his  life  was  to  get  him  away  to  sea. 
Lieut.  Valcke,  President  of  the  Executive  Council  of  the 
Congo  State,  placed  the  little  steamer,  the  Prince  Baudouin,  at 
his  disposal,  and  Scrivener  accompanied  him  to  Boma.  The 
following  day  (June  24)  a German  steamer,  the  Lulu  Bohlen, 
arrived,  and  Comber  was  placed  on  board  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening.  One  of  the  owners  of  the  steamer  was  on  board, 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS6-90  165 


and  every  consideration  and  attention  was  shown.  The  sea- 
breezes  seemed  to  benefit  him,  and  hopes  revived  ; but  he 
gradually  sank,  until  on  June  27,  1887,  while  the  steamer 
was  at  anchor  off  Loango,  Comber  passed  away.  He  was 
conscious  to  the  last,  calm,  peaceful,  and  resigned.  Though 
very  weak,  he  was  able  to  speak  in  a whisper.  Next  morning 
the  ship  put  into  Mayumba  Bay,  and  there  Comber  was 
buried  on  shore.  A monument  has  been  erected  to  mark  his 
resting-place. 

The  loss  to  the  mission  was  very  great.  Thomas  Comber 
was  of  a very  warm,  affectionate  disposition.  He  loved  his 
colleagues,  and  was  most  solicitous  for  their  welfare  ; he,  too, 
was  loved  and  esteemed  by  all.  The  mission  was  very  dear 
to  him  ; it  was  his  own  upbuilding,  and  its  interests  were  his 
own.  If  it  suffered,  he  suffered;  if  it  prospered,  he  rejoiced. 
He  had  passed  through  deep  waters  in  the  loss  of  his  wife, 
and  that  heavy  trial  had  matured  and  mellowed  him.  He 
was  an  intensely  earnest  man,  spiritually  minded,  whole- 
hearted, and  of  a most  winsome,  persuasive  manner.  He 
had  a wide  circle  of  friends,  and  enjoyed  the  pile  of  corre- 
spondence which  came  by  every  mail  ; his  own  warm,  hearty 
letters  are  treasured  by  many.  Comber’s  native  name, 
Vianga-  Vianga,  ‘ restless  activity,’  was  well  bestowed  ; his 
energy  and  special  abilities  marked  him  as  a man  sent  of  God 
for  his  great  work.  His  life  was  one  of  incessant  labour  and 
of  almost  continuous  trial.  The  sweetness,  the  gentleness, 
the  fortitude  and  perseverance  of  Comber’s  character  were 
remarkable,  and  the  very  memory  of  such  a character  is  the 
best  legacy  he  could  have  left  us. 

The  Peace  returned  on  July  7 from  her  trip  to  the 
Aruwimi  with  Stanley’s  expedition.  Whitley  was  ill.  He 
had  been  very  unwell  during  the  greater  part  of  the  voyage  of 
sixty-seven  days.  He  was  obliged  to  return  at  once  to 
England ; we  dared  not  risk  any  delay.  He  started  down 
country  as  soon  as  he  could  get  ready.  The  Peace  needed 
some  repairs,  which  were  made  as  soon  as  possible.  The 
transport  service  was  much  improved  since  a recruiting 
outpost  had  been  started  at  Lukungu,  and  100  loads  of  stores 


THE  COMBER  FAMII.V 

Sidney  Comber  Mr.  Comber,  Sen.  .Miss  Comlier 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : m6-90  167 


for  Lukolela  Station  had  come  to  hand.  They  were  badl}' 
wanted,  and  we  made  all  possible  haste  in  preparation  for 
a voyage  up  river  in  the  Peace,  to  relieve  the  necessities 
of  Richards  and  Darby.  On  July  23,  we  received  the 
distressing  news  of  the  death  of  Thomas  Comber.  This 
involved  correspondence  which  delayed  us  a day. 

We  started  on  July  26,  our  party  consisting  of  Charters, 
my  wife,  and  self,  with  our  baby.  We  hoped  to  visit  the 
principal  towns  between  the  Pool  and  the  Equator,  and 
perhaps  to  Liboko  (Bangala),  including  Lake  Mantumba. 

At  Mswata,  the  first  large  town  on  the  banks,  we  were  well 
received.  The  chief  Ngo-ibila  had  been  trading  at  Nshasa 
for  some  months,  and  we  had  seen  him  there.  We  spent 
Sunday  at  Lishiala,  a small  town  below  the  confluence  of  the 
Lefini-Lawson  river.  The  district  is  called  Misongo. 

It  was  the  first  time  that  I had  seen  the  Bobangi  at  home. 
They  built  their  houses  in  a style  diflerent  from  anything 
we  had  yet  seen.  Congo  houses  are  detached  and  scattered 
about  a quadrangle  ; the  Bateke  group  theirs  close  together 
round  about  a circular  court ; the  Bobangi  houses  vary  from 
20  to  100  yards  in  length,  and  are  arranged  along  each  side  of 
a fairly  wide  street,  stretching  on  sometimes  for  several  miles. 
Very  often  one  township  is  connected  with  the  next  by  an 
almost  unbroken  row  of  houses.  Some  streets  start  off  at 
right  angles,  and  lead  to  another  township.  An  old  dilapi- 
dated house  may  sometimes  line  one  side  of  the  street,  and 
here  and  there  may  be  a break  of  fifty  yards,  or  a jungle 
and  narrow  path ; or  a thick  tall  fence  of  dracaenas  separate 
one  village  from  another — blocking  the  road  to  an  enemy. 
Behind  the  houses  is  a forest  of  plantains  and  palm-trees. 
A man  of  any  importance  will  have  a house  without  walls  in 
the  middle  of  the  street,  under  which  he  sits  at  mid-day  and 
chats  with  his  people  or  traders ; perhaps  under  its  shelter 
is  the  native  forge,  and  a rare  place  for  gossip  is  that.  Neatly 
cut  chairs  and  benches  are  placed  conveniently.  The  latter 
are  compo.sed  of  the  bottom  and  one  side  of  an  old  canoe. 

The  young  warriors — or,  perhai^s,  rowdies  may  be  the 
better  term — carry  a spear,  and  seem  to  have  very  little  to 


i68  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


do  or  to  think  about.  The  women,  if  not  busy  at  their  farms, 
are  making  cassava  bread,  or  cooking,  or  making  pottery, 
grinding  cam-wood,  hair-dressing  ; the  small  boys  making 
arrows  for  their  rough  bows,  toys,  guns,  traps,  or  in  some 
way  getting  through  the  long  hours  ; the  girls  helping  their 
mothers.  Sometimes  a skull  or  two  are  sticking  on  the  roof 
of  the  chief’s  house,  or  upon  the  roof  of  the  town  hall.  Plenty 
of  canoes  are  plying  about  to  and  from  the  fishing-camps, 
and  on  various  errands.  On  the  beach  are  small  closely 
fenced  enclosures,  in  which  the  women  steep  their  cassava. 

Very  often  the  end  of  the  chief’s  house  is  open,  and  there 
he  lounges  and  receives  friends.  In  such  a place  we  sat 
on  Sunday  afternoon  at  Lishiala.  My  wife  and  little  one 
were  with  me.  We  could  not  talk  to  the  people,  nor  they  to 
us,  but  we  sat  down  and  listened  to  them  chatting  together. 
They  looked  at  us  and  we  at  them,  and  they  liked  the  quiet 
friendliness  of  the  visit.  When  it  became  cooler,  we  walked 
to  the  town  of  Mankono,  about  a mile  away. 

Next  day  we  wooded  on  the  beach  of  a township  of  the 
Bateke,  on  the  north  bank.  I went  up  the  hill  into  the 
towns,  but  could  not  buy  much  food.  The  Bobangi  are 
far  ahead  of  the  Bateke  in  energy  and  general  ability, 
travelling  far  on  their  trading  expeditions,  searching  every 
river  and  creek  for  ivory,  braving  many  dangers  and  difficulties. 
Seeing  much  of  the  world,  their  minds  are  much  more 
developed.  When  some  of  this  energy  can  be  brought  into 
the  Master’s  service,  we  may  see  things  move  forward. 

We  went  ashore  at  Tsumbidi’s ; although  the  people  were 
friendly,  they  had  no  food  to  sell  unless  we  waited  until  night ; 
as  we  had  enough  to  take  us  nearly  to  Bolobo,  we  would  not 
delay.  As  we  neared  Bolobo,  we  were  anxious  about  food, 
for  the  men  had  gone  short  the  previous  night.  The  people 
there  had  been  far  from  gracious  of  late,  and  had  sold  us  very 
little.  When  we  stopped  at  one  of  their  beaches,  there  was 
not  much  interest  displayed  until  baby  was  brought  out ; then 
a crowd  formed.  We  went  ashore,  and  walked  about  the 
town.  The  women  were  soon  busy  making  us  some  kzvanga 
(cassava  bread). 


NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  169 


The  Bolobo  district  was  very  populous.  I had  never  seen 
anything  like  it  before.  For  five  miles  there  was  an  almost 
unbroken  line  of  houses  along  the  banks,  some  towns  being 
divided  off  by  fences.  After  these  five  miles  there  was 
a break,  because  the  banks  were  too  high  and  inconvenient. 
After  a mile  or  two,  more  towns  again,  and  they  stretched 
on  at  short  intervals  for  another  twenty-five  miles  or  so — 
towns  and  people  everywhere.  The  people  of  the  interior 
are  different  from  the  riverine  Bobangi.  We  learned  that 
there  was  a good  population  inland — ‘ Batu  Be  ’ (plenty  of 
people).  Bolobo  itself  was  divided  into  two  districts  by  a 
short  interspace  which  the  State  station  occupied  at  one  time. 
A part  of  this  terrain  had  been  granted  to  our  mission,  but  had 
lapsed  again  to  the  State  thi'ough  non-occupation  on  our  part. 

Above  this  interspace  were  the  Moye  towns.  These  folk 
had  been  very  sullen  and  indifferent.  In  the  afternoon  we 
steamed  to  the  Moye  towns.  As  we  neared  their  beach  the 
people  told  us  to  go  away,  they  had  no  food  to  sell  to  us. 
They  were  most  unfriendly,  to  say  the  least.  The  women 
disappeared,  and  they  prepared  for  emergencies. 

Baby  was  taking  his  bath  at  the  time,  but  I called  for  him 
to  be  brought  up  quickly.  The  moment  he  appeared,  there 
were  shouts  of  delight,  and  a crowd  assembled.  In  less  than 
two  minutes  after  we  had  been  told  to  go  away,  I had  to  take 
baby  ashore,  and  with  my  wife  to  go  into  the  town.  Such 
delight,  shouting,  crowding,  all  in  good  spirits,  no  rowdyness. 
A great  number  wanted  to  hold  him  for  a moment.  Was  he 
born  like  ordinary  children  ? Which  was  his  mother  ? They 
could  scarcely  realize  that  there  were  also  white  women. 
Some  of  them  who  held  him  for  a moment  had  rubbed 
themselves  with  powdered  cam-wood,  staining  his  white  dress 
a bright  red  ; one  or  two  were  in  mourning,  and  had  rubbed 
themselves  with  pot  black  and  oil.  Baby’s  general  appearance 
after  a visit  of  this  kind  may  be  guessed.  Very  soon  the 
women  were  recalled,  and  were  busy  cooking  food.  I strolled 
through  the  towns  as  far  as  to  the  site  which  was  once  ours, 
exchanged  presents  with  Ngoi,  the  chief  of  the  adjoining 
town,  and  returned  to  the  Peace. 

VOL.  II. 


M 


170  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 7SS6-90 


It  was  then  time  to  drop  down,  as  we  had  promised,  to  the 
beach  of  Ibaka,  the  great  chief.  He  was  up  river  trading 
at  a town  opposite  to  Lukolela  ; Lingenji  was  acting  for  him 
in  the  town  ; we  found  him  drunk,  but  friendly.  He  crawled 
on  the  ground,  placed  his  forehead  on  our  boots,  and  behaved 
in  a manner  otherwise  than  he  would  have  done  had  he  been 
sober.  However,  he  was  in  a very  good  humour. 

We  went  away  loaded  with  food  for  many  daj'^s  ; but, 
better  still,  had  made  an  advance  in  our  friendship  with  the 
Bolobo  folk. 

Leaving  Bolobo  we  passed  the  Moye  towns,  stopping  only  at 
a village  twenty  miles  up.  We  should  have  liked  to  have  visited 
more,  but  our  colleagues  at  Lukolela  were  short  of  barter,  and 
our  load  was  very  heavy  ; and  there  was  unnecessary  risk  in 
going  on  to  the  ironstone  beaches  when  so  deep  and  heavy. 

We  reached  Lukolela,  August  6,  where  we  received  a hearty 
welcome  from  Richards  and  Darby.  It  was  a great  pleasure 
to  find  things  progressing  well.  The  buildings  were  as  forward 
as  could  be  expected,  for  only  a few  workmen  were  available, 
and  they  had  not  enough  barter  stuff  to  feed  or  pay  native 
labourers  until  we  arrived.  A dense  forest  surrounded  the 
station,  and  the  felling  and  clearing  away  of  a sufficient 
number  of  trees  to  render  it  safe  to  live  in  the  house  had 
taken  much  time  and  energy ; and  even  then  some  twenty 
tall  trees  would  have  come  down,  before  they  could  be  sure 
that  nothing  could  fall  on  them  during  the  wild  tornadoes 
which  are  so  common.  A second  and  larger  house  was  nearly 
finished  ; but  most  satisfactory  of  all  were  the  relations  with 
the  people.  The  medical  work,  and  the  intimacy  due  to 
frequent  visits  to  the  towns,  had  won  the  esteem  of  the 
people.  They  had  begun  to  understand  our  work  better. 
Good  progress  had  been  made  in  the  language,  and  ahead}* 
our  brethren  talked,  and  understood  with  fair  ease.  With 
such  progress  as  this,  and  well-filled  stores,  we  could  reckon 
Lukolela  Station  to  be  fairly  established. 

On  the  third  day  we  crossed  the  river  with  Richards  to  pay 
a visit  to  Mpuki.  Ibaka,  the  great  chief  of  Bolobo,  had  been 
staying  with  him  for  some  time.  He  called  twice  to  see  us 


NE^V  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S8C>~90  171 


while  we  were  at  Lukolela  Station.  He  had  seen  and  heard 
much  of  our  work  in  the  Lukolela  towns,  and  asked  us  to 
build  at  Bolobo,  to  give  him  medicine  when  he  is  sick,  and  to 
be  his  white  men.  This  was  just  what  we  wanted,  and  we 
promised  to  visit  him  on  our  way  down,  and  talk  it  over 
properly  at  Bolobo.  Certain  it  was  that  a very  good  impres- 
sion was  being  created  all  through  the  country  round  ; indeed, 
the  people  of  Ngombe  (a  town  in  the  next  district,  thirty 
miles  up  river)  had  several  times  begged  us  to  open  a 
station  in  their  town.  There  was  no  earnest  desire  for  the 
Gospel  in  this,  but  they  used  to  go  to  Lukolela  to  sell  food 
and  to  trade.  They  sold  to  our  brethren,  and  heard  about  us 
in  the  town,  and  they  would  have  liked  some  quiet,  pleasant 
white  men  to  go  and  live  among  them  too. 

VVe  left  Lukolela  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  nth.  After 
winding  our  way  through  the  channels  among  the  islands, 
we  reached  Ngombe  the  following  evening,  and  visited  the 
town.  They  were  noisy,  good-humoured  folk,  pleased  with 
our  visit  ; but  many  people  were  drunk,  and  too  talkative. 
Next  day  we  steamed  past  Nkuku  and  Butunu,  and  in  about 
two  hours  reached  Boshende,  the  town  of  Mayongo,  a man 
very  friendly  to  white  men  and  a very  intelligent  fellow.  We 
could  have  settled  there  without  difficulty. 

Next  day  was  Sunday  ; but  as  we  had  stayed  a whole  day 
at  Boshende,  we  steamed  for  about  half  an  hour  to  Ilebo. 
Before  the  sun  was  strong,  I walked  through  about  half  the 
towns  with  my  wife  and  baby,  and  great  was  the  pleasure  of 
the  people.  It  was  too  far  to  go  through  all  the  towns,  so  we 
returned  to  the  steamer,  and  then  I went  to  see  Ipaka,  the 
chief  of  the  first  town. 

Ilebo  itself  was  a group  of  eight  or  ten  towns,  separated  from 
each  other  by  fine  fences  of  tall  dracaenas.  The  people  were 
active  traders,  and  there  was  a good  population  of  riverine 
folk  ; while  the  Lusakani,  who  live  behind,  inland,  were  also 
very  numerous.  The  towns  lined  the  south  bank  of  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  which  flows  from  Lake  Mantumba.  Sometimes  the 
water  flows  from  the  lake,  but  just  then  it  was  flowing  into  it. 

Mr.  Stanley  made  a tour  of  the  lake  in  1883  ; no  one  else 

M 2 


172  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1SS6-90 


had  been  there  since.  We  passed  several  towns  in  the  river 
without  stopping,  and  anchored  at  nightfall  just  inside  the 
lake.  Three  canoes  came  over  from  the  opposite  side,  about 
two  and  a half  miles  away  ; they  wanted  us  to  go  across  to 
their  town  at  once.  We  could  not,  for  the  fire  was  drawn, 
and  it  was  almost  dark  ; but  we  promised  to  visit  them  the 
next  morning.  At  dawn  they  came  for  us  again,  very 
friendly,  fearless  people. 

We  found  Ngeru  to  be  a well-populated  township.  Just 
after  we  anchored,  a house  near  to  us  caught  fire.  I went  to 
see  how  the  people  managed  with  one  of  these  long  houses. 
They  tore  open  the  roof  a little  beyond  the  fire,  and  when  it 
reached  the  gap  only  the  walls  were  left  to  burn,  and  they 
were  able  to  beat  out  the  fire. 

The  chief  wished  me  to  go  and  see  him.  His  house  was 
within  a circular  enclosure,  and  I was  requested  to  take  a seat 
under  the  palm-trees  outside.  Presently  he  appeared  : an 
elderly,  dignified  individual,  with  a wonderful  hat  on  his  head, 
something  like  that  worn  by  the  clergy  of  the  Greek  Church, 
or  an  Inverted  silk  hat.  It  was  a cylinder  of  knotted  string, 
like  plaited  straw,  about  twelve  inches  high,  with  a brim  at 
the  top.  I have  since  bought  one  of  these  hats.  It  is  a fine 
piece  of  work. 

He  wore  a fine  cloth  of  native  manufacture.  In  one  hand 
he  held  his  staff,  made  of  several  spears  bound  together,  and 
in  the  other  a magic  wand  smeared  with  powdered  cam-wood 
and  chewed  kola-nut.  His  name  is  Monjoi.  I told  him  that 
we  wished  to  visit  him  often,  and  to  teach  him  and  his  people 
about  God  ; that  we  had  come  on  purpose  to  make  friends 
with  the  people  of  the  lake.  He  came  back  with  me  to  see 
the  steamer,  and  to  receive  a return  present  for  the  goat  and 
plantain  which  he  had  given  us.  Of  course  he  asked  for 
more  ; that  is  the  fashion  among  these  folk.  If  a little  more 
cloth  is  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  they  do  not  like  to  be  behind- 
hand. We  split  wood  on  his  beach,  and  had  some  time  to  see 
and  be  seen. 

Crossing  over  to  the  south  bank,  we  passed  across  the 
mouths  of  two  deep  bays — in  the  far  end  of  one  was  the 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  173 


township  of  Mwebi — but  we  did  not  enter  them.  Presently 
we  rounded  a point,  and  followed  the  shore  in  a southerly 
direction,  soon  losing  sight  of  the  northern  bank  ; an  hour 
later  we  stopped  for  wood.  The  first  village,  next  morning, 
cleared  out  as  soon  as  they  saw  us.  We  had  to  keep  far 
out  (200  yards),  for  the  water  was  shallow.  We  sent  some 
Bobangi  ashore  to  parley  ; one  or  two  people  appeared,  and 
assured  them  that  they  had  no  fowls,  goats,  or  any  food  to 
sell  ; although  we  saw  plenty  of  fowls,  goats,  and  sheep 
running  about.  We  steamed  on,  and,  in  a creek  at  the  far 
end  of  the  bay,  we  found  the  end  of  the  Mwebi  township. 
The  people  were  very  agreeable.  I walked  about  a mile  along 
the  street,  but  they  said  that  the  town  extended  very  far  beyond 
that.  We  promised  them  that  they  should  see  more  of  us. 

Steaming  along  the  southern  shore  of  the  bay,  we  found 
a creek  fifty  yards  wide,  and  followed  it  for  three  miles.  On 
returning  we  stopped  at  a ‘ beach.’  The  people  there  were 
very  timid,  but  we  were  able  to  go  into  the  town  after  a little 
parley,  and  presently  the  chief  came  to  see  us.  He  was 
terribly  excited,  and  afraid  to  touch  us,  and  behaved  more 
like  a wild  animal  just  trapped  ; not  that  he  wished  to  harm 
us,  but  the  smallest  remark  to  his  people  was  as  short  and 
excited  as  if  his  house  were  on  fire.  He  gave  us  a goat,  and 
in  offering  it  spoke  in  such  a manner  that,  until  his  words  were 
interpreted,  I thought  that  he  was  declaring  war  to  the  knife. 
This  was  at  one  end  of  the  long  township  of  Bokoso  ; and 
soon  a bigger  chief  from  further  in  the  town  arrived,  an  old 
man,  who  had  lost  one  eye.  He  sat  down  near  us  at  our 
invitation,  and  even  shook  hands  with  us,  examining  curiously 
the  hand  he  had  just  taken.  ‘ You  are  not  men,  you  are 
spirits.’  We  suggested  we  were  very  warm  and  substantial 
ones,  and  that  we  were  in  the  habit  of  eating  and  sleeping  as 
other  mortals  ; indeed,  we  had  just  accepted  a goat  for  our 
dinner  from  our  friend  beside  him.  Did  spirits  eat  and  sleep  ? 

‘ But  you  are  spirits,  not  men.’  I pointed  out  my  wife  and 
baby  on  the  steamer.  Had  spirits  wives  and  babies  ? They 
laughed  heartily  at  the  idea ; but  then  thinking,  perhaps,  why 
should  not  spirits  have  wives  and  babies? — he  continued. 


174  new  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


‘ No,  you  are  spirits  ; you  are  not  good.  Why  do  you  always 
trouble  us  ? Our  people  die,  our  farms  do  not  produce  as  they 
should,  our  goats  and  fowls  die,  sickness  and  trouble  comes, 
and  you  are  the  cause.  Why  do  you  do  this  ? Why  do  you 
not  let  us  alone  ? ’ 

We  told  them  that  these  matters  were  in  the  hands  of  lyanja 
( God),  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  us  or  spirits.  It  was  this 
very  business  we  had  in  this  country,  to  teach  them  about 
lyanja.  Then  we  went  on  talking  of  death,  and  God’s  pur- 
poses, telling  them  that  lyanja  was  good,  and  not  bad,  and 
that  all  the  good  things  they  had  came  from  Him.  After 
some  further  talk,  we  promised  to  come  again  some  day  and 
teach  them  more.  We  steamed  out  of  the  creek,  and  after 
rounding  a rocky  point  we  entered  a deep  bay,  and  anchored 
for  the  night  near  to  a town  which  in  the  morning  proved  to 
be  the  other  end  of  Bokoso. 

Mantumba  or  Ntomba  is  a shallow  lake,  separated  from  Lake 
Leopold  by  only  twenty-seven  miles  of  low  land.  The  water 
of  both  is  very  dark  in  colour ; both  are  characterized  by 
shores  of  ironstone  conglomerate,  rocky  points,  deep  shallow 
bays,  and  a few  small  islands.  We  found  that  in  the  bays  on 
the  south  and  east  of  Lake  Mantumba  the  shores  were,  for 
the  most  part,  not  more  than  one  or  two  feet  above  the  water. 
We  wished,  if  possible,  to  gain  further  information  as  to  the 
supposed  water-way  between  the  lakes  ; for  if  it  existed  it 
would  be  easier  to  carry  on  missionary  work  on  Lake  Leopold 
through  Lake  Mantumba,  than  by  ascending  the  Kwa  and 
Mfini  rivers.  We  therefore  carefully  skirted  the  bays. 

Leaving  Bokoso,  we  could  not  do  much  in  the  first  bay,  on 
account  of  the  shallowness  of  the  water,  but  at  its  south- 
eastern corner  we  found  a large  town,  Ngili-wumba,  where  we 
went  ashore  for  some  time.  Round  the  next  two  points,  and 
in  a smaller  bay  we  stopped  for  a while  at  another  end  of  the 
same  long  township. 

The  people  were  very  different  from  the  Ilebo  folk.  Their 
type  of  face  resembled  the  Wabuma  of  the  Kwa  and  Mfini 
rivers,  at  the  south  of  Lake  Leopold.  The  cloth  they  wore, 
too,  was  of  the  kind  made  in  the  Kasai  region.  It  is  a damask 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  175 


velvet  made  of  the  fibre  of  the  raphia  palm.  Strips  of  the 
ribs  of  the  frondlets  were  woven  into  the  texture,  and  then  cut 
out  to  form  a pile,  which  is  therefore  formed  in  the  same 
manner  as  European  velvet.  The  cloth  is  a stout  texture,  and 
when  reddened  with  powdered  cam-wood,  and  edged  with 
a short  thick  fringe  of  palm  fibre,  has  a ‘rich  appearance,  and 
must  be  very  durable. 

The  people  were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows  and  spears, 
but  very  few  shields  were  to  be  seen.  We  asked  frequently 
about  Lake  Leopold,  but  could  get  no  definite  information. 
They  said  that  we  were  very  knowing,  and  had  better  look  in 
our  books,  and  find  out.  They  told  us  that  the  Wabuma 
lived  a few  days  off. 

Leaving  Ngili-Wumba,  a native  volunteered  to  come  with 
us,  to  introduce  us  at  Ikoko.  We  entered  a deep  bay,  and  as 
we  were  then  at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  we  expected 
that  if  any  waterway  existed  we  should  soon  find  it.  At  the 
end  of  the  bay  we  found  a creek,  fifty  yards  wide,  and  the 
soundings  gave  three  fathoms.  Passing  an  opening  from 
the  south,  we  came  to  another  creek,  running  north  and  south. 
As  it  was  nearly  sunset,  we  turned  northwards,  and  came  out 
again  into  the  lake  and  anchored  for  the  night.  Next  morn- 
ing we  retraced  this  last  part  of  our  journey,  and  followed  the 
southern  creek,  the  shores  of  which  were  thickly  wooded  with 
good,  useful  timber,  but  very  low,  not  more  than  six  inches  to 
one  foot  above  the  water,  while  the  watermark  on  the  trees 
showed  a rise  of  eleven  feet  (carefully  measured).  The  creek 
became  narrower  and  narrower  until,  turning  at  right  angles, 
we  thought  that  we  could  go  no  further,  but  in  half  a minute 
we  came  into  a fine  broad  creek,  which  proved  to  be  the  first 
opening,  seen  the  previous  night.  Turning  southwards,  we 
followed  it  until  we  were  nearly  six  miles  from  the  lake.  The 
soundings  gave  three  and  four  fathoms  of  water,  but  the  creek 
had  narrowed  to  twenty  yards  wide,  with  plenty  of  snags. 
Although  the  water  slowly  running  up  assured  us  that  the 
creek  extended  much  further,  we  felt  that  it  was  too  risky  to 
go  further  in  our  precious  steamer,  on  account  of  these  snags. 
We  returned  to  the  lake  by  the  broader  creek. 


176  N£ IV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1SS6-90 


A little  further  along  the  shore  of  the  bay  we  came  to  the 
township  of  Ikoko.  We  landed  on  the  chief’s  beach,  amid 
a dense  crowd  of  most  agreeable  people.  The  old  chief,  Ntula, 
was  afraid  to  come  till  I sent  a message  to  him  to  fear  nothing. 
All  his  children  were  on  the  beach,  surely  he  would  come  too. 
He  did  so,  and  wished  me  to  go  back  to  his  house  ; so,  with 
my  wife,  I went.  Conversation  was  thus  carried  on.  I spoke 
to  an  old  schoolboy  of  Mr.  Fuller  in  the  Cameroons.  He  had 
been  so  long  on  the  Peace  that  he  knew  enough  Lo-bobangi 
to  speak  to  the  man  who  had  come  with  us  from  Ilebo,  Mon- 
gongo.  He  could  make  himself  understood  by  the  Bashienge, 
as  the  Mantumba  people  call  themselves. 

Ntula  very  soon  began  to  ask  about  death  and  spirits,  and 
we  had  another  interesting  talk.  We  exchanged  presents  ; 
the  old  man  came  on  board  the  steamer,  and  before  we  left 
he  said  that  whenever  we  liked  to  visit  the  town,  his  beach  was 
at  our  disposal.  He  sold  me  his  best  royal  hat  and  brush, 
like  that  described  at  Ngeru,  and  a very  fine  piece  of  work  it 
is.  In  fact,  I was  quite  set  up  in  the  insignia  of  royalty — hat, 
knife,  and  fly-brush.  It  was  near  sunset  when  we  left,  so  we 
only  steamed  round  the  promontory,  and  anchored  in  the  next 
bay,  behind  Ntula’s  town. 

In  the  morning,  we  wooded  early  near  to  Ngubu’s  town. 
The  beach  and  ground  were  composed  entirely  of  copal,  leaves, 
and  driftwood.  The  sand  and  pebbles  being  all  copal,  I saw 
nothing  else,  even  in  the  hollows  A little  further  on  was 
another  creek  leading  from  the  east-south-east.  The  chief  of 
one  of  the  neighbouring  towns  was  with  us  for  a while.  He 
said  that  the  cloth  described  above  was  brought  up  the  creek 
from  the  Bankundu.  The  creek  extended  for  a long  distance, 
but  there  were  no  people.  Fishing  camps  were  passed  ; but, 
after  about  six  miles,  it  became  difficult  to  get  round  the 
corners.  The  water  three  fathoms,  but  the  snags  and  narrow- 
ness of  the  creek  compelled  us  to  return.  A current  of  about 

^ Gum  copal  is  the  resin  which  flows  from  a tree ; it  is  very  light,  and  floats  readily 
in  water.  The  copal,  which  dropped  from  the  trees  round  the  lake,  was  floated  at 
flood  time,  and  blown  by  the  wind  to  this  side  of  the  lake  ; hence  this  wonderful 
collection  of  the  gum. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  IHSd-m  177 


one  mile  per  hour  was  setting  up  the  creek.  The  depth  of 
these  creeks  is  due  to  the  scour  of  the  water  sometimes  flow- 
ing up  and  sometimes  down  ; the  current  must  be  fairly  strong 
when  the  ground  is  just  being  bared  by  the  subsiding  water. 
Only  in  low  water  would  it  be  safe  to  enter  them  as  we  did. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  country  here  is,  to  a very 
large  extent,  inundated  in  the  rainy  season  ; perhaps  ten  feet  of 
water  right  away  to  Lake  Leopold,  and  up  to  the  Bosira  river. 
It  is  probable  that  there  are  low,  inhabited  hills  and  ridges. 
Such  is  the  nature  of  the  country  near  the  Uluki-Bosira. 

Next  day  was  Sunday,  so,  having  anchored  off  Lukangu, 
we  v/ent  ashore,  and  found  one  of  the  usual  long,  broad-street 
towns,  extending  very  far.  I walked  for  about  a mile  in  one 
direction,  but  returned  not  feeling  well.  We  understood  from 
Stanley’s  map  that  another  town — Bikulu,  or  Vikuru — was 
near  by,  and  started  to  find  it  in  the  afternoon.  Not  being 
able  to  do  so,  we  anchored  beside  an  island.  Next  day  we 
passed  rocky  points  and  deep  lowland  bays.  After  an  hour’s 
steaming  we  had  to  run  under  the  lee  of  an  island  ; for  the 
water  was  so  rough,  and  our  awning  stanchions  so  weak, 
that  it  nearly  jerked  overboard  by  the  rolling  of  the  steamer. 
In  the  afternoon  I was  too  unwell  to  take  much  interest 
in  things,  so  we  ran  past  several  towns  on  the  north-east 
of  the  lake,  and  slept  off  Ngeru,  reaching  Ilebo  next  afternoon. 

Two  days  later  we  were  at  the  Equator  Station  of  the 
American  Baptist  Mission,  where  Messrs.  McKittrick  and 
Gerrish  heartily  welcomed  us.  Thence  we  visited  the  Lulongo 
river,  ascending  it  one  day's  steaming  to  see  the  big  towns  as 
far  as  Molongo.  We  were  well  received.  From  there  we 
made  our  way  towards  Liboko  (Bangala). 

At  Bangala  we  made  friends  with  one  smiling,  amiable, 
mild-looking  chief,  who  had  eaten  at  least  seven  of  his  wives, 
and  had  somewhat  beggared  himself  in  consequence.  The 
last  cannibalism  in  his  town  was  not  more  than  five  months 
previously.  They  were  fine,  well-made  fellows,  not  wilder  or 
ruder  material  than  the  Kru  boys,  and  far  cheaper  than  any 
other  labour  available,  their  wages  being  about  £^  year. 
This  brought  us  in  touch  with  people  nearly  800  miles,  from 


178  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


the  coast.  Amid  much  shouting  and  cheering  we  started 
down  late  one  afternoon  with  seventy  men. 

The  next  day  we  met  the  State  steamer  coming  up  from 
the  Pool,  bearing  the  news  that  our  brother  Whitley  had 
gone  to  his  heavenly  home.  Three  days  later  we  met  the 
Henry  Reed,  and  learned  that  John  Biggs  had  also  been 
called  away  to  the  higher  service.  Crushing,  bewildering 


TWO  or  THE  KANGAI.A  WORKMEN 

blow  upon  blow!  What  could  it  all  mean?  How  could  this 
be  for  the  best?  Was  this  intended  to  hold  us  back?  Was 
God’s  time  not  yet  come  ? Many  such  thoughts  and  question.? 
came  into  our  minds. 

Two  hours  later  we  were  at  Ilebo,  and  sitting  before  Ipaka’s 
house,  we  were  talking  about  our  building  there.  He  said 
that  his  mind  was  still  the  same  ; the  site  was  there ; we 
could  build  as  soon  as  we  liked.  When  would  we  come? 


NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S8G-90  179 


I told  him  of  the  news  we  had  received,  and  that  I would 
send  word  home. 

Next  day  we  were  at  Lukolela  Station  again,  and  found 
our  brethren  well,  and  that  progress  had  been  made.  We 
tried  hard  to  induce  twenty  of  our  Bangalas  to  stop  and  work 
on  the  station  and  the  slipway  for  the  Peace.  They  were 
afraid  to  do  so ; for  they  had  carried  their  piracy  to  such 
lengths,  having  murdered  traders  from  the  down-river  towns 
so  often,  that  they  had  palavers  everywhere.  Time  and  our 
service  should  have  made  it  safe  for  them  to  stay,  but  they 
dared  not.  It  was  a great  disappointment  to  us,  but  there 
was  no  help  for  it ; so  leaving  every  available  Loango  at 
Lukolela  we  started  on  our  down  journey.  As  usual,  we 
found  the  water  very  rough  in  the  narrower  reaches  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Kwa  and  Stanley  Pool.  We  towed  the 
Plymouth,  full  of  Bangalas,  astern,  and  the  small  boat  alongside 
the  Peace.  The  waves  and  wind  were  so  high  that  the  little 
boat  was  nearly  swamped.  We  had  to  stop  in  mid-channel, 
and  baled  her  out  just  in  time.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for 
travellers  to  be  seasick  during  the  last  100  miles  down. 

We  had  food  for  all  the  journey  and  for  the  first  day  at  the 
Pool  from  the  Equator.  We  found  Cameron  at  Arthington, 
and  sadly  missed  John  Biggs’s  tall  figure  and  kindly  welcome. 

We  gathered  fuller  particulars  of  our  late  losses.  Harry 
Whitley  had  started  down  country,  carried  in  a comfortable 
hammock  slung  on  a stout  bamboo.  Six  strong  men  were  to 
bear  him,  two  at  a time,  taking  turns  every  hour,  and  he  was 
sheltered  from  what  little  sun  there  might  be.  It  was  the 
dry  season,  the  very  best  time  to  travel  ; cool,  with  but  little 
sun.  He  had  his  two  well-trained  personal  boys  with  him. 
At  Wathen  he  was  attacked  by  a fever,  and  when  he  was  well 
enough  to  resume  his  journey  Philip  Davies  accompanied 
him.  At  Lukangu  the  fever  returned.  Dr.  Small,  of  the 
American  Mission,  treated  him,  but  the  fever  would  not  yield, 
and  after  eight  days,  on  August  3,  1887,  he  died. 

I had  known  him  from  boyhood,  but  we  all  loved  and 
esteemed  him.  Comber  had  written  of  him  only  a few  weeks 
before  his  death : ‘ Whitley  is  such  a true-hearted  worker — 


i8o  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S86-90 


no  show  ; real  right  through,  with  a brave,  gentle  spirit  and 
a loving,  generous  nature.  Send  us  as  many  like  him  as  the 
Churches  at  home  can  give  us,  and  we  shall  all  thank  God  for 
them.’  To  quote  his  own  words  : ‘ Work  for  Christ  in  Africa 
must  be  my  life  work.  I desire  this  work  more  than  all  else ; 
and  be  my  life  long  or  short,  I pray  that  it  may  be  faithful 
until  the  end.  And  who  knows  how  soon  the  end  may  come  ? 
Life  is  not  always  to  be  measured  by  years,  is  it  ? ’ 

When  we  went  up  river  in  the  Peace  we  were  obliged  to 
leave  John  Biggs  alone  oh  the  station.  We  were  forced 
to  go  away  when  we  did,  because  we  could  not  obtain  food 
for  the  crew  of  the  steamer.  It  was  arranged,  therefore,  that 
Mr.  Murphy,  of  the  American  Mission,  should  stay  with  him. 
Three  weeks  after  we  left,  Biggs  was  attacked  by  a haemo- 
globinuric  fever.  Dr.  Sims,  of  the  American  Mission,  an  hour 
and  a half  distant,  came  over  to  help,  and  nurse  him.  All 
was  unavailing  ; on  August  26  he  passed  away. 

He  had  written  to  Mr.  Baynes  on  his  acceptance  as 
a missionary  by  our  Society : ‘ I desire  to  go  to  the  Congo 
to  live  or  die,  as  my  Master  sees  best ; my  only  trust  is  in 
Him  ; He  is  my  only  hope,  and  it  is  because  I feel  that  He 
calls  me  to  this  work  that  I desire  to  go.  Of  myself,  I know 
that  I am  quite  unequal  to  such  an  enterprise  ; but  in  His 
strength  I shall  always  be  strong.  I can  thankfully,  and 
without  any  anxiety,  leave  all  the  uncertain  future  to  His 
unfailing  love ; all  must  be  well.’ 

Only  a few  weeks  before,  he  had  written  in  reference  to 
the  death  of  Thomas  Comber : ‘ Although  we  are  saddened 
by  the  death  of  our  brother,  and  the  loss  of  our  leader,  we 
are  not  cast  down  and  discouraged.  The  loss  of  one  after 
another  of  our  little  band  on  the  Congo  must  be  only 
a more  urgent  call  to  those  of  us  who  remain,  and  are 
sustained  in  health  and  strength,  to  a more  entire  consecra- 
tion in  our  Master’s  service.  Our  days  of  toil  here  may  be 
but  few,  and  we  have  need  to  make  the  best  of  them.’  Such 
was  his  spirit  and  such  his  life.  He  was  quiet  and  somewhat 
reserved,  but  a most  lovable  man,  spiritually-minded,  and 
thoroughly  in  earnest. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  i8i 


This  was  the  sixth  death  in  the  year ; the  Committee  of 
the  Society,  and  our  friends  at  home,  became  still  more 
anxious  that  everything  possible  should  be  done  to  prevent 
this  terrible  loss  of  life.  The  Committee  directed  that  better 
houses  should  be  built,  and  more  attention  paid  to  the 
comfort  and  conveniences  of  life.  It  was  not  possible  in 
the  early  days  to  do  more,  or  build  better  than  we  did.  The 
transport  of  materials  was  too  great  a difficulty ; iron  sheets 
could  not  be  carried  up  country  until  things  were  much 
further  advanced,  and  the  first  necessities  supplied.  Planks 
for  flooring  could  not  be  sawn  out  in  any  number,  while  the 
first  necessary  buildings  were  being  constructed.  Better 
houses  could  be  built,  but  time  was  required.  The  Committee 
were  quite  prepared  to  sanction  any  reasonable  expenditure 
in  providing  permanent,  hygienic,  fire-proof  buildings,  so 
that  we  were  only  straitened  in  our  circumstances,  not  in 
resources.  Our  losses  and  troubles  cannot  in  any  way  be 
ascribed  to  any  false  economy  on  the  part  of  the  home 
authorities ; neither  they  nor  we  on  the  field  could  do  im- 
possibilities. All  were  fully  alive  to  the  necessities  of  the 
situation,  and  now  with  time  and  the  development  of  our 
resources,  the  health  of  the  mission  has  most  markedly  im- 
proved ; the  death  rate  is  so  greatly  reduced,  that  now  it  is 
in  no  way  abnormal. 

On  receiving  news  of  the  death  of  Biggs,  Cameron  hurried 
up  from  Wathen,  to  take  charge  of  the  station,  until  we 
returned  from  up  river.  He  was  busy  completing  his  transla- 
tion of  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  which  was  printed  in  i888,  and 
served  us  well  until  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament  was 
ready,  five  years  later.  Weeks  also  made  a translation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  later  on.  I was  at  work  on  the  Gospel 
of  Luke,  but  the  travelling  did  not  give  me  much  time  ; then, 
too,  Nlemvo,  who  had  helped  me  in  the  reduction  of  the 
language,  was  away  visiting  his  people,  near  San  Salvador. 
His  uncle  who  had  brought  him  to  me  was  dead,  and  the 
people  wished  him  to  become  their  chief.  He  had  been 
preaching  about  in  his  own  town  and  in  the  neighbourhood. 
We  heard  of  him  from  time  to  time,  and  were  pleased  to 


i82  NEH'  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18SG-90 


learn  of  his  earnest  efforts  for  his  people.  In  the  first  days 
of  1888  he  returned,  and  told  us  how  he  had  decided  to  stay 
with  me.  His  people  had  wished  him  to  be  chief,  but  he 
must  follow  the  customs  of  the  country.  He  said  that  he 
was  a Christian,  and  that  if  they  were  willing  to  have  a 
Christian  chief,  he  would  stay  with  them  ; but  he  would  not 
go  back  to  the  old  ways — there  could  be  no  killing  of  witches, 
and  all  the  old  wickednesses.  They  would  not  agree  to  this, 
but  begged  him  to  stay  with  them  notwithstanding.  He 
stayed  on  ; but  when  a relative  died,  and  he  opposed  the 
usual  witch  palaver,  they  became  angry  with  him.  They 
said  that  he  wished  them  all  to  die,  and  some  even  hinted 
that  he  might  be  a witch.  Even  his  own  mother  was  afraid 
of  him  sometimes.  At  last  the  crisis  came ; they  refused  to 
have  him  as  a Christian  chief,  or  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  his  new-fangled  notions.  There  was  nothing  for  him 
to  do  but  to  leave  them  to  their  own  devices,  and  to  come 
and  help  me  in  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament.  In 
that  work  he  has  rendered  most  valuable  help.  He  has 
a marvellous  knowledge  of  his  language,  and  of  the  shades 
of  meaning.  I cannot  but  regard  him  as  raised  up  of  God 
to  help  in  this  translation  work. 

Cameron  and  Charters  sailed  for  England  in  December, 
1887,  on  furlough  ; but  Charters  never  returned  to  the  Congo. 
He  had  seen  the  importance  of  medical  knowledge  on  the 
mission  field,  and  determined  to  study  medicine,  before  under- 
taking further  work.  Friends  in  Scotland  undertook  to  help 
him  to  carry  out  his  desire.  After  a brilliant  course  of  study 
he  took  his  degree  of  M.D.,  and  then  was  appointed  to  take 
the  direction  of  the  new  Scottish  Industrial  Mission  at 
Kibwezi,  in  the  territory  of  the  Imperial  British  East  Africa 
Company.  The  mission  was  founded  by  Dr.  Stewart,  of 
Lovedale,  and  it  was  hoped  to  make  another  Lovedale  of  it. 
Charters  had  not  long  taken  up  his  new  work,  when  he 
walked  out  a little  way  from  the  station,  to  bid  farewell  to 
a friend  who  was  travelling  up  country  and  had  stayed 
a day  or  two  with  him.  Nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of 
either  Charters  or  his  friend.  Whether  the  Masai  carried 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S86-90  183 


them  off,  or  whether  they  were  taken  by  lions,  no  one  ever 
knew,  and  no  traces  were  ever  found.  It  remains  a mystery 
until  this  day. 

On  November  12  a new  colleague,  J.  G.  Brown,  arrived  at 
the  Pool,  and  a month  later  Samuel  Silvey  came  to  be 
associated  with  him  at  Arthington  Station.  My  colleagues 
all  felt  that,  now  that  Thomas  Comber  was  dead,  I ought  not 
to  settle  on  the  upper  river  ; but  as  I had  reduced  the  Kongo 
language  fo  writing  and  unravelled  its  grammatical  con- 
struction, I ought  to  continue  the  work  in  the  language,  and 
proceed  to  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures.  To  this  end  it 
was  decided  that  I should  go  to  live  at  Wathen  Station  as 
soon  as  I was  free  to  leave  Arthington. 

Grenfell  arrived  out  at  Banana  on  October  6,  returning  from 
his  furlough.  He  was  accompanied  by  a new  colleague, 
F.  G.  Harrison,  who  was  to  be  associated  with  him  in  work 
on  the  upper  river.  Grenfell  reached  the  Pool  in  January,  and 
on  February  8,  1888,  I reached  my  new  home  at  Wathen. 
For  nine  years  I had  had  no  certain  dwelling-place,  the 
exigencies  of  the  work  requiring  many  changes;  but  from  that 
time  I could  settle  down  to  definite  work  of  a more  permanent 
character. 

Two  days  after  reaching  Wathen,  Percy  Comber,  who  had 
been  visiting  the  transport  outpost  at  Lukangu,  was  brought 
back  suffering  from  a bad  haemoglobinuric  fever.  Dr.  Sims, 
of  the  American  Mission,  happened  to  be  travelling  at  the 
time,  and  came  in  on  the  same  day.  He  very  kindly  nursed 
him  through  the  fever.  It  was  felt  that  Percy  Comber 
should  go  home  on  furlough,  and  he  started  homewards  on 
P'ebruary  20. 

The  day  before  leaving  he  was  able  to  be  present  at  the 
first  baptism  at  Wathen.  My  native  assistant  Nlemvo  made 
his  public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  by  baptism.  He 
had  given  his  heart  to  the  Saviour  in  May,  1882  ; exceptional 
circumstances  had  caused  this  long  delay  of  six  years.  In 
1882  he  was  but  young,  only  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
there  was  good  reason  for  careful  action  in  the  case  of  this 
our  first  convert.  The  next  year  we  were  busy  with  the 


184  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


building  of  the  new  station  at  Stanley  Pool,  where  there  was 
scarcely  any  one  who  would  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
ordinance,  if  we  had  seen  fit  to  administer  it.  Then  the  death 
of  Butcher  necessitated  my  removal  to  Manyanga,  and  soon 
after  came  the  long  furlough  of  two  and  a half  years.  On  our 
return  Nlemvo  spent  a year  among  his  people,  so  this  was 
really  the  earliest  convenient  opportunity. 

Two  months  later,  on  April  22,  there  was  another  baptismal 
service  at  Wathen.  Two  young  women,  who  had  been  in  our 
school  for  some  years,  made  their  profession  of  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus.  They  had  both  of  them  come  to  us  from 
the  Arabs.  Aku  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Mantu,  who 
was  managing  the  transport  of  the  mission  at  Lukangu.  Tipu- 
tib’s  marauding  Arabs  burnt  her  town  in  1883.  She  was 
then  living  at  Londo,  a little  to  the  west  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Lomami  (Lubila  Loomi) ; her  people  were  wild  cannibals. 
They  heard  that  the  Arabs  were  raiding,  burning,  and  killing 
above  them,  and  hoped  that  they  would  not  come  down  to 
them.  They  came,  however,  and  the  people  tried  to  get  away 
in  their  canoes.  They  were  chased,  and  caught ; the  men  in 
the  canoes  were  killed,  the  babies  thrown  into  the  river,  and 
the  boys  and  women  folk  taken  back.  The  town  was  burnt. 
When  Stanley  reached  the  Falls,  and  found  the  Arabs  in 
possession,  he  tried  to  induce  them  to  stop  this  raiding,  and  to 
engage  in  legitimate  commerce  ; on  his  return  he  brought 
some  Arabs  down  with  him  to  Stanley  Pool,  to  see  the 
possibilities  of  trade.  One  of  the  Arabs  brought  Aku  down 
with  him  as  pocket-money  ; there  was  nothing  else  that  he 
could  bring.  At  Stanley  Pool  he  wanted  money,  or  rather 
barter,  so  he  sold  the  girl.  One  of  our  Congo  workmen 
bought  her.  Comber  found  the  girl  in  his  possession,  and 
soon  learned  her  story.  We  could  not  allow  our  work-people 
to  buy  slaves  while  in  our  employ,  so  Comber  gave  him  the 
few  yards  of  cloth  that  he  had  given  for  the  girl,  made  her 
free,  and  took  her  into  the  mission  school.  She  accompanied 
Grenfell’s  little  daughter  Pattie  to  England  as  nurse,  whence 
Comber  brought  her  in  1885  ; and  when  her  little  charge  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  her  relatives,  Aku  came  to  my  wife. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S6-90  185 


During  our  voyage  to  Bangala  in  1887,  she  sought  and  found 
the  Saviour,  and  now  made  her  profession  of  faith. 

Kalombo  came  from  Uvuma,  near  Kasongo,  very  much 
further  up  the  river.  She  had  become  interested  in  spiritual 
things  through  Thomas  Comber’s  talks  with  the  children  at 
Underhill,  the  previous  spring,  shortly  before  his  death.  She 
became  engaged  to  Nlemvo,  and  earnest  talks  with  him  led 
to  her  conversion.  She  returned  to  the  Pool  a happy,  earnest 
Christian,  and  was  very  helpful  to  Aku  ; so  together  they 
made  their  confession.  It  was  very  delightful  to  see  the 
thorough  change  in  these  girls,  and  to  mark  their  earnestness 
in  seeking  to  lead  other  girls  to  the  Saviour.  Amid  the 
decencies,  and  good  example,  and  training  of  the  life  in 
England,  the  change  of  heart  may  not  be  so  strongly  marked  ; 
but  in  Africa  the  difference  of  character  and  behaviour  is  very 
great  when  the  natives  are  brought  to  Christ.  The  contrast 
between  heathen  and  Christian  is  very  definite,  as  well  it 
may  be. 

We  told  the  people  of  the  towns  round  that  we  intended  to 
hold  the  baptismal  service  at  the  Tombe  river-side,  and  a few 
of  the  townsfolk  were  present ; as  also  three  of  the  gentle- 
men from  the  State  Station  beside  us,  which  was  occupied  for 
some  time  for  purposes  of  transport.  Our  own  workmen  and 
the  school-children  gathered  with  us.  I explained  to  the 
spectators  what  we  were  going  to  do. 

There  is  a custom  in  Congo,  that  when  a slave  runs  away 
from  a bad  master,  and  seeks  the  protection  of  another,  he 
breaks  a plate  or  pot  before  his  new  master,  strikes  him  or 
touches  his  foot,  or  goes  through  some  such  form,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  district.  The  new  master,  if  such  he  is 
willing  to  become,  gives  the  runaway  a goat,  and  they  make 
a feast  ; and  after  that  they  will  protect  him  at  all  costs, 
generally  paying  the  current  price  of  a slave  to  his  old  master. 
This  is  called  dia  e nkoinbo,  ‘ to  eat  goat.’  I referred  to  their 
custom,  and  told  them  that  our  Saviour  had  instituted  the 
ordinance  as  the  outward  formality  and  sign  to  be  observed 
by  those  who  came  to  eat  goat  with  Him.  Continuing, 
I explained  who  the  old  master  was,  and  to  whom  they  had 

VOL.  II.  N 


i86  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


come  for  salvation,  and  why ; how  He  saves  and  keeps  us, 
and,  so  using  their  own  ideas  and  custom,  the  meaning  and 
teaching  of  the  ordinance  was  brought  home  to  them  and 
readily  understood.  Then  I read  a number  of  passages  of 
Scripture,  in  Kongo,  carefully  grouped,  which  set  forth  the 
leading  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  asked  the  two  girls  their 
reasons  for  seeking  baptism. 

I had  suggested  to  them  that  some  statement  might  be 
helpful  to  others,  but  left  it  entirely  to  them.  They  feared 
that  it  might  be  rather  an  ordeal,  but  wished  to  have  such  an 
opportunity.  So  first  Aku,  then  Kalombo,  told  the  people 
assembled,  in  a good  distinct  voice,  how  they  had  been  taken 
from  their  countries  by  the  Arabs,  and  how  God  had  sent 
them  to  us.  They  had  been  at  first  indifferent,  until  they 
began  to  see  how  great  and  blessed  was  the  salvation  offered 
by  Jesus.  The  water  of  the  Tombe  was  no  fetish,  it  could  not 
make  their  hearts  clean  ; but  Jesus  had  cleansed  them  from 
their  sins  in  His  own  blood,  and  their  sins  were  already 
forgiven,  they  were  well  assured  of  it.  The  Holy  Spirit  had 
come  into  their  hearts,  they  had  been  rescued  from  the  power 
of  the  evil  one,  and  they  wished  to  be  henceforth  the  slaves  or 
servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  They  had  ‘eaten  goat’  with 
Jesus,  and  wished  to  obey  Him  in  the  observance  of  this  out- 
ward sign,  to  all  people,  of  their  desire  to  follow  Jesus,  and 
live  in  newness  of  life.  This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the 
remarks  of  each,  although  the  order  was  different.  I had  not 
dictated  a word  to  them,  and  was  looking  forward  with 
interest  as  to  what  they  would  say.  Nlemvo  had  set  them 
a good  example  two  months  before,  and  they  spoke  with 
good  assurance  and  definiteness. 

Then  we  knelt,  and  commended  them  to  our  Saviour’s  safe 
keeping  and  careful  shepherding. 

This  portion  of  the  service  had  been  held  about  fifty  }^ards 
from  the  water,  on  account  of  the  noise  of  the  torrrent.  It 
was  swollen  with  the  rain,  and  it  had  been  difficult  to  find 
a safe  place  of  the  proper  depth  ; but  that  had  been  ascer- 
tained before  the  service.  We  went  down  into  the  water,  and 
I baptized  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  188G-90  187 


the  Holy  Ghost,  and  assisted  them  to  the  opposite  bank,  that 
they  might  go  to  their  vestry  in  the  jungle. 

In  the  evening  we  held  a communion  service,  and  a very 
happy  time  it  was.  We  were  nine  ; my  wife  and  I,  Davies 
and  Harrison,  Manwele  and  Lo  (who  had  been  baptized  at 
San  Salvador,  to  give  their  testimony  before  their  own 
people),  and  Nlemvo,  Aku,  and  Kalombo  ; most  of  the  school- 
children  were  present  as  spectators,  four  of  them  were  hoping 
soon  to  be  baptized. 

Five  days  later  Nlemvo  was  married  to  Kalombo.  I had 
compiled  a marriage  service  much  on  the  lines  of  those 
employed  in  England,  with  more  explanation,  and  otherwise 
adapted  to  the  occasion.  We  decorated  our  hall  with  flags 
and  palm  fronds.  Two  State  officers  were  present,  some  of 
the  townsfolk,  and  all  the  station  people.  Kalombo  wore 
a white  dress,  and  Nlemvo  a singlet,  a handsome  cloth,  and 
a leopard  cat’s  skin,  in  the  most  approved  Congo  style. 
This  was  our  first  Christian  marriage,  and  much  interest  was 
felt  as  to  the  nature  of  the  vows  and  the  serious  character 
of  the  whole  affair.  All  heartily  approved,  and  thought  it 
a very  good  fashion  to  make  these  solemn  promises  before 
God  and  man.  To  some  it  did  appear  strange  to  promise 
to  respect,  help,  and  care  for  a woman.  ‘ Why,  that  is  the 
duty  of  a wife  to  her  husband ! ’ This  was  the  crux  of  the 
whole  matter,  and  yet  they  felt  that  it  was  right.  How  happy 
it  was  that  they  could  be  united  as  professing  Christians  ! 

The  matter  of  dress  was  one  of  some  importance  then,  if 
not  now ; we  do  not  want  to  denationalize  our  native  con- 
verts ; indeed,  so  far  as  they  denationalize,  they  lose  their 
influence.  A native  who  went  into  the  villages  to  preach, 
dressed  in  coat  and  trousers,  hat  and  boots,  was  no  longer 
one  of  themselves  ; he  had  become  a white  man,  so  of  course 
he  talked  as  the  white  men  did,  and  abandoned  the  native 
customs  ; but  when  he  went  to  them  as  one  of  themselves, 
in  dress  and  manner,  they  listened  to  what  he  had  to  say, 
and  it  had  far  greater  power.  Then  again,  a native  in 
European  clothes  and  boots  began  to  fancy  himself  a white 
man,  and  to  expect  the  consideration,  treatment,  and  pay 

N 2 


l88  NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIPER  ; 18S6-00 


of  a white  man,  without  the  white  man’s  ability  and  worthi- 
ness. We  want  them  to  understand  that  it  is  not  clothes  that 
make  the  man,  and  to  teach  them  to  be,  and  not  to  pretend 
to  be.  A clean  shirt  and  a neat  loin-cloth  is  by  a long  way 
the  simplest,  coolest,  and  best  style  of  dress  for  the  native 
men  ; very  much  more  decent  and  becoming  than  the  imita- 
tions of  white  men’s  dress  which  they  often  make.  Nlemvo 
wore  the  best  style  of  native  clothes  at  his  wedding  to 
accentuate  this.  We  have  to  Christianize,  not  to  Anglicize. 

After  the  death  of  John  Biggs,  Baluti  Kayembe,  his  personal 
boy,  became  mine,  taking  Nlemvo’s  place  in  housework  arid 
general  service.  He  was  not  baptized  until  twelve  months 
later,  but  as  he  came  to  us  from  the  Arabs  his  story  may 
best  be  told  here.  His  country  was  far  away  above  Stanley 
Falls,  about  a day’s  march  from  Kasongo,  which  was  until 
lately  Tipu-tib's  head-quarters.  His  father  was  killed,  and 
he  was  captured  in  a slave  raid  in  1884.  He  was  sold  to 
a State  soldier,  a Zanzibari,  at  Stanley  Falls.  An  attack 
of  dysentery  prostrated  the  boy,  and  his  master  was  glad 
to  get  rid  of  him  to  a Hausa  soldier.  When  his  time  was 
up,  he  took  the  boy  to  Leopoldville,  and  in  a few  days  he 
was  handed  over  to  the  mission  by  Sir  Francis  de  Winton. 
He  became  the  personal  boy  of  John  Biggs,  and  was  much 
attached  to  him.  He  soon  began  to  pick  up  Kongo,  and 
to  make  some  headway  in  reading.  Biggs  used  to  call  him 
into  his  room  in  the  evening,  telling  him  of  the  love  of  Jesus, 
and  Bible  stories,  giving  him  reading  lessons,  and  trying  to 
push  him  on.  Kayembe  took  a more  than  ordinary  interest 
in  all  this  teaching,  and  would  often  detail  to  the  boys  what 
he  heard.  When  Biggs  died,  Kayembe  was  much  distressed, 
and  wept  bitterly ; I told  him  that  I should  like  him  to  be 
my  boy.  I would  try  to  teach  him  more  about  Jesus,  to 
help  him  on,  and  to  care  for  him.  One  day  in  March,  1888, 
Kayembe  told  me  that  he  had  definitely  given  his  heart  to 
the  Saviour,  and  wished  to  follow  Him.  He  was  trusting 
in  Him  for  forgiveness,  and  had  now  found  peace  in  his 
heart.  This  was  no  lip  profession  ; his  daily  life  well  bore 
out  his  words,  and  there  was  no  question  that  he  well  under- 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S6-90  189 


stood  the  Gospel  message.  He  was  very  young,  not  more 
than  thirteen  then.  There  was  no  need  to  hurry  matters. 
When  the  Wathen  Church  was  formed  in  January,  1889, 
Kayembe  told  me  that  he  had  been  thinking  things  over 
again  very  seriously.  He  was  quite  sure  of  his  own  position. 
Jesus  was  his  Saviour  and  his  Friend,  and  he  was  trying 
to  serve  Him.  He  wished  to  make  profession  of  his  faith, 
be  baptized,  and  join  the  Church.  Why  should  he  further 
delay  ? We  had  a long  and  very  satisfactory  talk ; as  a 
result  his  name  was  brought  before  the  Church,  and  at  the 
following  Church  meeting  he  was  accepted.  He  was  baptized 
in  the  Tombe  on  March  3,  1889,  and  before  the  administra- 
tion of  the  ordinance  he  spoke  very  clearly  of  his  faith  in 
the  Saviour,  his  hope  and  assurance  in  Him,  and  his  desire 
to  serve  Him.  He  was  No.  8 on  the  Wathen  Church 
books. 

His  capture  and  the  death  of  his  father  is  a sad,  terrible 
memory  to  him  ; but  he  is  thankful  that  the  end  of  it  all  has 
been,  that  he  has  come  to  us  to  learn  about  the  love  of  God, 
and  to  find  Jesus  his  Saviour.  His  countrymen  are  in  heathen 
darkness,  but  he  has  found  the  light.  Very  earnestly  he 
longs  and  prays  for  the  time  when  they  too  may  know 
the  Saviour.  At  present  they  are  beyond  our  reach. 

Eventually  he  married  Nlemvo’s  sister,  and  I taught  him 
printing.  In  company  with  another  lad  he  went  to  the 
Antwerp  Exhibition  of  1895,  at  the  request  of  the  Governor- 
General  ; they  did  the  printing  for  the  exhibition  in  the 
exhibition  itself,  as  an  evidence  to  the  people  of  Belgium 
that  something  could  be  made  of  Congo  people.  This  very 
much  disgusted  some  Belgian  Socialists,  one  of  whom  com- 
plained in  a pamphlet  that  the  Congo  State  was  ‘training 
these  dirty  niggers  to  take  the.  bread  out  of  our  mouths.’ 
Several  times  King  Leopold  stood  beside  Baluti  Kayembe, 
watching  him  set  up  the  type. 

In  May,  1888,  I started  down  country  to  take  my  wife  and 
little  son  to  the  coast,  on  their  way  to  England.  At  Lukangu 
Aku  was  married  to  Mantu,  our  transport  agent.  When  we 
came  within  two  hours  of  Underhill  Station,  our  base  of 


190  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


operations,  we  had  to  cross  the  Mpozo  river  by  canoe.  The 
canoe  was  a very  bad  one,  far  from  straight.  When  several 
loads  had  passed  over,  I put  my  wife  and  child  into  the  canoe, 
and  sent  them  over,  remaining  behind  myself  to  direct  the 
dispatch  of  the  other  effects.  The  river  was  still  in  flood,  on 
account  of  the  recent  heavy  rains  ; as  the  canoe  came  into  the 
rush  of  the  stream,  its  head  was  twisted  down  stream.  A short 
distance  below  was  a series  of  falls,  and  for  a time  it 
appeared  that  the  clumsy  ferrymen  would  let  the  canoe  go 
down,  so  slow  were  they  in  getting  the  canoe’s  head  round. 
When  they  did  succeed  in  heading  for  the  shore,  the  canoe 
drifted  down  to  a great  stranded  tree  which  had  been  carried 
down  the  river,  and  lay  on  the  bottom,  with  an  array  of  roots 
sticking  up  out  of  the  water.  The  canoe  caught  on  a root, 
turned  over  on  its  side,  and  lay  athwart  the  current,  threaten- 
ing to  slip  off  on  one  side  or  the  other.  The  water  was  deep 
and  strong,  but  the  canoe  remained  fixed  ; a merciful  Pro- 
vidence was  over  them.  My  wife  scrambled  with  the  child 
on  to  the  side  of  the  canoe.  I plunged  into  the  river,  and 
swam  to  them  with  great  difficulty.  We  got  on  some  roots, 
and  pulled  out  of  the  canoe  the  few  things  that  were  in  it. 
We  righted  the  canoe,  and  got  her  to  the  shore.  The  long 
ropes  of  our  bed  bundles  were  fetched  and  tied  together  ; 
one  end  was  brought  to  the  tree,  and  by  aid  of  the  rope 
a strong  man  swam  ashore  with  the  child,  and  two  others 
took  my  wife,  and  so  we  all  came  safe  to  land.  It  was  a 
terrible  situation  for  a while,  but  a gracious  protecting  Hand 
was  over  us,  and  no  harm  came  of  it. 

At  Underhill  we  found  that  Scrivener  was  also  homeward 
bound  on  furlough,  and  in  a day  or  two  we  started  down 
river  in  the  mission  rowing-boat  for  Banana.  Now  the  ocean 
steamers  pass  Underhill  Point  and  discharge  and  load  at 
Matadi,  two  miles  above  ; but  then  such  a thing  was  con- 
sidered impossible,  so  we  had  to  go  by  boat  to  Banana,  as 
there  was  no  steamer  descending.  It  was  a very  simple 
voyage  of  one  hundred  miles,  but  by  reason  of  an  exceptionally 
strong  sea-breeze  we  were  unable  to  reach  Ponta  de  Lenha 
the  first  night.  The  great  waves  of  the  river  forced  us  to 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  191 


spend  the  night  in  the  boat.  The  same  strong  wind  com- 
pelled us  to  pass  the  night  in  tidal  water  fifteen  miles  above 
Banana.  Happily,  all  these  difficulties  of  travel  are  simplified 
now,  they  only  remain  in  our  memories  as  dreamlike  re- 
collections. 

On  my  return  to  Underhill  I paid  a visit  to  San  Salvador. 
It  was  seven  years  since  I had  been  there,  and  I expected 
to  find  even  more  change  than  I actually  did.  The  temporary 
buildings  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Mission  had  given  place  to 
permanent  structures  ; two  trading  establishments  were  there 


THE  OLD  CHAPEL,  SAN  SALVADOR 


also.  The  agents  amassed  cloth  and  goods  during  the  dry 
season,  and  when  the  rains  made  travelling  more  difficult,  the 
natives  were  glad  to  sell  there,  instead  of  going  on  to  the 
coast.  With  this  incentive  the  people  of  San  Salvador  had 
been  engaging  more  in  trade,  and  being  so  accustomed  to 
white  men  and  their  ways,  were  acting  still  more  as  middle- 
men. All  this  had  made  them  much  richer  ; they  had  bought 
many  slaves,  and  many  of  these  slaves  had  become  traders ; 
they  had  become  as  rich  as  their  masters,  and  had  themselves 
bought  slaves.  So  San  SaRador  had  grown  much  bigger,  and 


192  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


great  numbers  of  trading  people  from  the  further  interior 
were  constantly  coming  and  going.  Our  position  there  as  a 
strategic  point  was  becoming  increasingly  important. 

When  I came  away  on  July  25,  1888,  there  was  a Church 
of  eighteen  members,  nine  men  and  nine  women.  Many  at 
home  might  think  that  Christians  so  recently  gathered  from 
among  the  heathen  must  be  of  a very  low  type.  Ignorant 
they  are,  and  must  be  on  many  points  ; but  they  have  an 
understanding  of  the  main  essential  points,  and  the  miracle  of 
the  new  birth  has  been  wrought  in  them. 

Three  women  and  a young  man  were  baptized  while  I was 
there.  The  young  man,  when  he  applied  for  baptism,  came 
with  another  who  wished  for  instruction.  Lomola  and  Lum- 
bemba  were  companions.  They  were  not  married,  so  they 
lived  together  in  the  same  house,  traded  together:  in  fact, 
were  partners  in  business.  Lomola  had  worked  for  us  in  the 
early  days  ; eight  years  ago  he  was  carrying  the  stones  to 
build  our  stone  house.  He  had  worked  for  us  lately  on  our 
other  stations,  and  had  been  much  influenced  by  Cameron. 
Lumbemba  had  not  had  much  to  do  with  us,  and  if  he 
patronized  any  mission  he  went  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
services.  A great  change  came  over  Lomola.  He  would  no 
longer  join  Lumbemba  in  his  drinking-bouts,  escapades,  and 
immoralities.  Lumbemba  was  puzzled,  and  laid  himself  out 
to  tempt  Lomola,  and  to  get  him  to  go  upon  the  old  lines ; all 
was,  however,  without  any  effect.  He  began  to  wonder  what 
teaching  could  lead  a man  to  live  such  a blameless  life,  and 
presently  began  to  wish  to  know  himself  more  of  the  doctrines 
which  could  put  such  good  sense  into  a man’s  heart  and 
make  him  so  good.  He  stopped  attending  the  padres’ 
services,  for  no  change  of  heart  was  connected  with  anything 
there.  So  after  attending  our  services  for  a while,  he  and 
Lomola  came  to  talk  with  Lewis,  the  one  to  ask  to  be 
baptized,  the  other  for  instruction.  It  was  not  necessary  to 
inquire  very  much  further  about  the  change  of  heart  in 
Lomola  under  such  circumstances. 

With  him  was  baptized  a woman,  and  when  her  case  was 
brought  before  the  Church,  the  question  was  asked,  whether 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  193 


there  was  any  reason  to  believe  that  her  heart  was  changed. 
A murmur  of  surprise  came  from  every  one.  Indeed  there 
was  ; she  used  to  live  a terribly  immoral  life  before  ; the  great 
change  which  had  come  over  her  was  a wonder  to  all  who 
knew  her.  One  of  the  other  women  would  have  been  bap- 
tized before,  but  her  sister  had  died  at  Madimba  (a  populous 
district  south  of  San  Salvador).  She  had  to  go  to  the  funeral. 
When  she  had  been  there  a few  days,  another  relative  died, 
and  she  was  delayed  for  a considerable  time,  for  there  was 
a little  motherless  child  to  care  for.  She  had  returned  to 
San  Salvador  with  the  little  one.  When  she  came  to  see 
Mrs.  Lewis,  she  said  to  her,  ‘Yes,  I have  been  away  for  a long 
while,  and  perhaps  you  may  think  that  away  there,  out  of 
your  sight,  I may  have  been  living  after  the  old  fashion  ; but 
it  is  not  so.  There  has  come  nothing  to  turn  my  heart  away, 
I have  forgotten  nothing,  and  I hope  that  my  baptism  will 
not  be  any  longer  delayed.  I spoke  to  my  people  about  Jizu 
(Jesus).’  These  were  three  out  of  the  four  ; the  other  was 
the  wife  of  Matoko.  He  was  glad  to  express  his  confidence 
in  his  wife’s  conversion.  These  instances  given  were  the  four 
last  who  had  joined  the  Church. 

The  Church  has  from  the  first  been  taught  to  contribute  for 
Christian  work.  Every  Sunday  they  put  their  beads,  knives, 
and  cloth  into  the  box  which  stood  near  the  door  of  the 
chapel.  In  this  way  they  were  able  to  support  an  evangelist, 
who  visited  the  neighbouring  towns  three  days  in  the  week ; 
the  other  three  days  he  did  carpentering  work  on  the  station 
for  his  bare  food.  They  collected  more  than  enough  for  this, 
and  at  the  time  had  actually  funds  in  hand.  They  were  thus 
in  a position  to  do  more  than  they  were  doing,  as  far  as  funds 
were  concerned.  The  real  need  was  men  to  do  the  work. 
The  little  Church  was  so  young,  that  it  is  not  surprising  that 
there  were  not  many  to  hand  who  could  undertake  regularly 
evangelistic  work.  Other  of  the  members  went  out  on 
Sundays  and  at  other  times  to  visit  the  towns  around  ; but 
only  one  at  that  time  was  answerable  to  the  Church  for  so 
many  days  per  week. 

Graham,  Phillips,  and  Lewis  were  intending  to  do  more 


194  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90 


itinerating  in  the  district  ; and  it  was  felt  that  in  this  way 
the  work  could  be  largely  extended,  for  many  people  in  the 
towns  round  were  asking  what  this  salvation  was. 

When  I had  been  at  San  Salvador  a few  days  the  Bishop 
of  Loanda  and  the  Resident  arrived,  for  the  Portuguese 
had  occupied  the  place  with  a garrison  of  some  thirty  black 
soldiers. 

With  the  advent  of  soldiers  and  a Resident  the  very  in- 
different administration  of  justice,  protection  of  property,  and 
general  security  underwent  considerable  change. 

The  poor  old  king  felt  very  uneasy,  and  was  troubled  by 
a dread  of  being  dethroned.  He  was  afraid  to  attend  our 
services,  and  was  perplexed  by  the  diverse  religious  instruction 
which  he  received.  When  I was  talking  to  him  just  before 
I left  he  said  to  me,  ‘You  white  men,  you  perplex  me  with 
your  different  teachings.  I do  not  know  how  to  choose 
between  you.  One  says  one  thing,  and  one  another.  I cannot 
decide,  myself.  I shall  keep  both  these  palavers  in  my  heart, 
and  when  I appear  before  God,  He  must  decide  and  judge 
both,  and  the  one  who  has  told  me  wrong  will  get  into 
trouble.  I never  go  to  sleep  at  night  without  commending 
my  soul  to  God,  and  seeking  the  pardon  of  my  sins  through 
the  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  Mary,  His  mother.’  One 
might  have  had  more  hope  of  the  poor  old  man,  had  he  in 
any  way  been  anxious  to  know  the  truth.  He  was  then  far 
more  anxious  to  make  his  earthly  position  secure  than  his 
heavenly.  It  was  a most  unfortunate  time  to  try  to  do 
anything  with  him.  The  bishop  had  just  arrived,  and  he 
was  very  uneasy  as  to  what  this  great  ecclesiastic  was  going 
to  do  with  him. 

His  queen,  to  whom  he  was  to  be  married  with  all  the 
solemnities  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  had  arrived  from 
a visit  to  her  old  home,  and  day  and  night  the  ivory  horns 
were  being  blown  in  her  honour. 

The  Portuguese  Government  had  been  behaving  very 
liberally  towards  the  other  Protestant  missions  in  the  south, 
and  they  maintained  towards  us  the  same  enlightened  policy. 
After  the  first  complimentary  visits  were  over,  the  Resident 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  18S6-90  195 

wrote  to  the  missionaries,  announcing  the  occupation,  and 
stating  that,  in  accordance  with  the  stipulations  of  the  Berlin 
Treaty,  there  was  to  be  religious  liberty  ; at  the  same  time  he 
expressed,  somewhat  vaguely,  the  desire  that  there  should 
be  some  Portuguese  taught  in  our  schools.  Lewis  and 
Phillips  called  upon  him  to  ascertain  his  wishes  more  defi- 
nitely. He  received  them  very  well,  and  said  that  if  they 
taught  the  children  to  count,  the  multiplication  tables,  to 
read  from  the  blackboard  in  Portuguese,  that  they  would 
be  quite  satisfied  ; and  we  should  be  at  liberty  to  teach 
English  or  French  or  anything  else  that  we  liked. 

On  my  last  Sunday,  the  Church  gathered  with  us  round 


T.  LEWIS  MRS.  LEWIS 


the  Lord’s  Table.  What  a privilege  and  happiness  it  was 
thus  to  commune  with  that  little  company  of  firstfruits ! In 
dealing  with  those  who  came  for  special  religious  instruction 
and  guidance,  it  was  of  course  difficult  to  explain  things 
to  some.  There  was  a tendency  on  the  part  of  some  to  think 
that  the  waters  of  baptism  would  wash  away  sin,  and  secure 
a right  to  enter  heaven  ; this  more  especially  on  the  part 
of  those  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  us  or  our  teaching. 
A man  came  to  talk  with  me  while  I was  there.  He  said 
that  he  had  been  saved  in  Cameron’s  book,  but  he  had  fallen 
among  tempters  in  Congo,  and  had  gone  wrong ; he  wanted 


196  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1886-90 


to  be  written  again.  I asked  him  what  he  meant  by  being 
saved  in  Cameron’s  book.  He  seemed  to  have  a vague  notion 
that  he  had  been  booked  for  heaven  some  time  ago,  but 
had  gone  out  of  the  way,  and  wished  to  be  re-booked.  For 
some  time  he  had  not  been  doing  anything  wrong,  had  been 
helping  everybody,  and  was  worthy  of  being  re-booked.  It 
was  very  clear  that  some  time  previously  he  had  been  having 
some  talks  with  Cameron,  and  he  had  taken  a note  of  the 
man’s  name  in  his  note-book  ; the  poor  man  comforted  him- 
self with  the  idea  that  he  had  satisfied  the  examiner,  and  was 
all  safe.  I tried  to  explain  things  to  him,  but  he  had  the  idea 
firmly  fixed  in  his  head  that  I could  book  him,  and  that, 
in  consequence  of  some  wickedness  on  my  part,  I would  not 
save  him.  Such  misunderstandings  were  inevitable. 

Another  case : a woman  of  considerable  dignity  and  influence 
in  the  town,  had  been  advised  by  her  son  to  attend  to  our 
teaching,  and  to  keep  clear  of  the  padres ; she  came  asking 
to  be  baptized.  She  had  been  attending  our  services  for 
some  time,  but  did  not  seem  to  have  apprehended  the  drift  of 
the  teaching.  She  had  thus  made  public  her  attachment  to 
the  mission,  but  she  felt  that  she  was  not  assuming  among 
our  people  the  position  which  she  was  holding  among  the 
women  of  the  town.  Some  of  the  women  attending  the 
services  had  been  baptized,  and  were  admitted  into  the  inner 
circle.  She  wished  to  assume  the  same  position  ; but  realized 
nothing  of  the  need  of  a change  of  heart,  and  thought  that 
our  objections  and  teachings  were  only  idle  difficulties  thrown 
in  her  way.  But  she  had  made  up  her  mind  not  to  be 
thwarted,  so  she  still  continued  to  talk  to  Mrs.  Lewis.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  she  kept  within  the  range  of  Mrs.  Lewis’s 
influence  and  teaching  until  the  true  light  dawned  upon  her. 
Mrs.  Lewis  was  doing  a fine  work  among  the  women  there. 
She  held  her  own  meetings  with  them,  and  conducted  the 
girls^  school.  With  so  many  women  near  to  her  she  had 
splendid  opportunities,  and  was  making  good  use  of  them. 

Returning  to  Underhill,  I found  that  my  old  friend,  Fred. 
Oram,  had  come  to  join  us  in  the  work.  Three  ladies  had 
accompanied  him : Miss  Butcher  and  Miss  Silvey,  who  were 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1886-90  197 


destined  for  the  upper  river,  and  a lady  who  was  to  become 
the  wife  of  Phillips  of  San  Salvador.  Oram  and  I went  on 
to  Wathen,  for  he  was  to  stay  there  for  a while,  to  allow 
Davies  to  take  his  furlough.  The  ladies  were  to'  stay  for 
a while  at  Underhill.  When  on  the  way  to  the  coast  with 
my  wife,  two  days  before  we  reached  Underhill,  we  had  met 
a new  colleague,  A.  H.  Slade,  on  the  way  up  to  join  us  at 
Wathen.  With  Oram  and  Slade  on  the  station,  Davies  was 
able  to  go  home  for  his  furlough.  Within  seventeen  days  of 
reaching  Wathen  I was  on  the  way  to  San  Salvador  again, 
but  this  time  by  another  route. 

The  Congo  State,  having  been  duly  recognized  by  the 
Powers  as  an  independent  State,  was  very  active  in  seeking 
the  development  of  its  vast  territories.  It  was  very  evident 
that  little  could  be  done  without  a railway,  and  already 


WATHEN  PLATEAU 


a party  of  engineers  was  out  surveying  for  a route.  M. 
Dannfeld,  a State  officer  living  at  the  State  post  beside  us  at 
Wathen,  had  been  exploring  the  Lukunga  river.  He  traced 
the  river  for  several  days  as  it  flowed  up  from  the  south, 
under  the  escarpment  of  the  lofty  plateau  of  the  Londe  lua 
Mbilu,  upon  which  Wathen  stands  nearly  1,800  feet  above 
the  sea  level.  He  came  to  a point  where  there  was  a great 
bend  in  the  river ; for,  instead  of  coming  away  from  the  .south, 
the  river  was  there  flowing  from  the  north-east  along  the 
southern  escarpment  of  our  plateau.  South  of  it  was  a wide 
valley  across  which  the  railway  would  run.  The  great  bend 


198  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  18S6-90 


of  the  river,  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  plateau,  was  only 
a few  miles  from  Kinsuka,  which  had  been  visited  from  San 
Salvador  by  Thomas  Comber.  The  people  were  not  hostile. 
I determined  to  explore  the  district  to  the  south  of  us  ; if 
possible  to  go  to  Kinsuka,  and  even  to  San  Salvador,  and  thus 
open  the  road  which  was  once  so  fast  closed  to  us.  I had 
only  left  San  Salvador  on  July  25  ; little  did  I think  that 
I should  be  back  there  again  so  soon.  I started  on  Sep- 
tember 4,  1888,  with  two  chiefs  of  neighbouring  towns  as 
guides.  Nlemvo  came  with  me  and  a Congo,  who  was  trading 
in  the  district,  and  who,  therefore,  wished  to  know  a better  road 
home.  There  were  also  six  carriers  and  three  boys.  We 
stopped  the  first  night  in  a populous  district,  which  had  been 
visited  several  times.  Old  Fiuma,  the  chief  of  Kitala,  where 
I was  staying,  wanted  me  to  be  present  at  a big  ‘ palaver,’ 
to  which  a little  later  he  would  call  all  the  chiefs  of  the 
district.  Mfumu  Ntangwa,  of  Mputu  near  by,  had  seized 
the  musical  instruments  (drums  and  ivory  horns)  which  were 
used  at  the  great  funerals  of  his  clan.  It  was  a long  story  ; 
it  seemed  strange  that  any  one  should  be  so  unreasonable. 
I told  him  that  I was  no  judge  or  magistrate  over  them,  but 
if  they  wanted  to  settle  the  matter  and  have  their  market 
re-established,  I would  come  over  to  the  ‘ palaver  ’ if  they 
called  me.  I could  teach  and  advise. 

This  gave  me  a good  opportunity  to  talk  of  our  work,  and 
to  explain  the  message  of  salvation  to  him,  to  Makwala  of 
Nkela,  and  to  the  other  people  gathered  round.  They  listened 
with  interest.  The  whole  country  was  distracted  with  innu- 
merable palavers,  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  which  would  be 
most  difficult  to  ascertain.  It  is  astonishing,  too,  how  com- 
pletely these  people  forget  or  ignore  the  wrongs  which  they 
have  committed,  and  which  have  led  up  to  some  very  natural 
act  of  retaliation.  They  are  indignant,  and  thirst  for  revenge, 
when  really  and  truly  they  have  not  had  half  of  what  they 
deserve. 

Next  day  we  passed  through  a good  number  of  villages, 
a fine  field  for  future  work,  and  at  evening  came  to  the  edge 
of  the  great  plateau  upon  which  we  live.  Seven  hundred  and 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  1886-90  199 


fifty  feet  below  lay  the  townships  of  Luvituku,  Nkela,  and 
Kikandikila  ; and  beyond  Makuta,  Kinsuka,  and  the  towns 
which  Tom  Comber  tried  so  hard  and  often  to  pass.  Up  this 
valley  at  the  foot  of  the  plateau  the  Congo  Railway  was  to  be 
laid.  The  men  were  so  wearied  with  the  march  that  we  had 
to  stop  at  Luvituku,  half  an  hour  short  of  Nkela;  so  not  until 
the  next  morning  could  I do  the  medical  work  there.  The 
people  were  all  expecting  me,  and  I had  to  attend  to  four 
or  five  cases.  It  was  nine  o’clock  before  we  got  clear  of  the 
township.  Nkela  was  a cluster  of  villages  rather  than  a town. 

We  intended  to  sleep  at  Mantumba,  but  did  not  reach  the 
first  village  until  sundown.  I hurried  on  with  the  guides 
to  the  village  of  a chief  they  knew  well,  but  it  was  dusk 
before  we  reached  it,  the  medical  work  had  so  much  delayed 
us.  A caravan  of  native  traders  from  near  Wathen  was 
camping  there.  I .stayed  to  talk  with  them  while  the  guides 
went  to  announce  my  arrival  to  the  chief.  To  the  surprise  of 
every  one,  he  was  very  angry,  and  said  that  we  should  not 
sleep  in  his  town.  The  guides  explained  that  we  had  been 
delayed  by  giving  medicine  to  his  neighbours  at  Nkela  ; but 
he  was  very  angry,  so  nervous  and  excited,  and  fingered  his 
gun  in  such  a nasty  manner  that  they  were  glad  of  an  excuse 
to  get  out  of  his  presence  ; so  they  came  to  tell  me.  While 
we  were  discussing  what  we  had  better  do,  the  wife  of  the 
chief  became  very  excited  and  took  her  fetish  to  curse  us. 
‘ Eh,  Fwatete  (one  of  the  guides),  take  away  your  thing.  Eh, 
Manzanza  (her  fetish),  break  their  arms  and  legs  if  they  do 
not  clear  off.  Eh,  Fwatete,  take  away  your  thing.’ 

I was  the  thing  thus  delicately  referred  to.  Every  one  was 
getting  excited,  and  things  were  becoming  serious.  Nlemvo 
and  others  with  me  said  that  we  might  be  attacked  at  night, 
if  we  persisted  in  disregarding  these  protests  ; at  the  same 
time  it  was  whispered  that  there  was  small-pox  in  the  next 
town,  and  that  it  had  carried  off  thirty  people,  and  that 
therefore  there  was  some  excuse  for  an  extra  amount  of 
superstition  and  fear.  We  asked  the  people  to  take  us  to 
some  place  outside  their  town,  near  to  the  water,  for  it  was 
then  quite  dark,  and  no  moon.  They  said  that  there  was  no 


200  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  188G-!)0 


water  near,  they  had  to  go  very  far  for  if;  their  streams  had 
all  dried  up.  They  agreed  to  let  us  have  two  men  to  lead 
us  out  to  the  plain  beyond  the  town.  With  these  two  men 
before  us,  we  slowly  filed  out  in  the  darkness  through  a wood, 
then  another  town,  but  no  one  had  anything  to  say ; on 
again  through  another  dark  wood,  down  into  a deep  gully  ; 
fallen  trees  and  roots  made  it  difficult  to  pick  our  way. 
1 asked  whether'  we  were  clear  of  towns  ; our  guides  said  that 
only  the  small-pox  town  lay  before  us,  so  we  waited  outside 
for  all  our  men  to  come  up,  and  follow  closely  and  quickly 
through  the  town.  The  guides  took  us  past  the  end  of  it, 
only  we  did  not  go  near  any  houses  ; then  out  into  the  open 
and  round  the  town  outside  of  it,  so  there  was  only  the  danger 
of  crossing  the  wind  from  the  town.  Presently  we  struck  the 
main  road,  and  were  soon  well  away  from  the  towns  on 
the  open  plains.  Our  guides  wished  to  return. 

But  where  was  the  water?  None  anywhere  ! Next  morning 
we  should  have  to  walk  far  before  meeting  any.  It  was  so 
dark  that  we  could  not  even  look  for  any  firewood.  We  gave 
a little  present  to  the  guides,  and  they  left  us.  There  we  had 
to  sleep  hungry  and  thirsty  after  our  long  walk  in  the  after- 
noon sun.  I lay  down,  but  could  not  sleep  for  a long  time  ; 
and  when  I did  succeed  in  forgetting  my  thirst,  a jackal  came 
barking  close  to  us.  It  was  a very  wakeful,  wretched  night. 
Happily,  such  experiences  are  very  rare  ; only  once  before 
in  all  my  journeyirrg  was  I without  firewood  for  a night, 
never  without  water. 

Next  morning  we  walked  an  hour  before  we  saw  any  water  ; 
when  we  did,  we  made  up  for  past  deficiencies,  a good  plate  of 
porridge  making  the  first  course.  Starting  again  we  reached 
the  Kwilu  river,  and  crossed  it  by  a very  fine  suspension 
bridge.  The  banks  are  very  deep  and  steep  ; the  bridge  was 
hung  from  two  opposite  trees,  a good  thirty  feet  above  the 
water.  After  refreshment  I went  on  in  front  with  the  guide- 
chiefs.  Ngudi-a-nkama  Veya  was  the  great  chief  of  Kinsuka. 
On  arriving  at  his  compound  there  were  very  few  people 
about ; they  told  us  that  the  chief  was  away.  We  took  our 
seats  in  front  of  his  house  and  waited  for  some  one  to  come. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  201 


Presently  the  locum  ienens  arrived.  He  said  that  the  chief  was 
away  at  Matadi,  and  that  he  did  not  wish  us  to  sleep  in  the 
town.  We  wondered  what  objection  Kinsuka  people  could  have 
to  a white  man  sleeping  in  their  town  ; surely  they,  who  were 
such  noted  traders,  and  who  so  often  slept  at  the  white  man’s 
factories,  did  not  fear  a visit  from  one.  He  said  that  they 
were  not  afraid,  but  we  could  not  sleep  there.  We  said  that 
we  were  on  the  road  to  San  Salvador,  and  on  passing  through 
Veya’s  town  we  had  not  the  good  fortune  to  find  him  at 
home,  but  it  would  never  do  to  pass  his  town  without  sleeping 
there,  so  we  should  wish  them  to  show  us  a house  in  which  we 
could  sleep.  After  much  palaver  I said  that  for  a long  time 
I had  been  wishing  to  pay  a visit  to  Kinsuka.  My  brothers 
Vianga-Vianga  and  Joni  (T.  J.  Comber  and  Hartland)  had 
passed  through  the  town  a long  time  ago,  and  they  had  told 
me  about  Kinsuka.  They  said  that  they  had  no  objection 
to  a visit  from  me,  but  they  were  afraid  that  other  less  agree- 
able visitors  might  come  after  me.  I told  them  that  we  only 
travelled  with  natives  of  the  country,  as  they  could  see  for 
themselves.  We  were  the  only  white  men  who  had  business 
between  Wathen  and  San  Salvador.  We  wished,  however,  to 
use  this  short  road  whenever  we  visited  each  other,  and  should 
never  have  any  but  natives  with  us. 

I told  them  that  we  had  a great  message  from  God  to 
deliver  to  them,  and  spoke  to  them  a little  about  it ; but  they 
were  restless,  and  wanted  to  show  me  the  house  and  settle  all 
for  the  night,  for  the  sun  was  setting  ; so  the  palaver  was  at  an 
end.  Then  I walked  and  chatted  until  dusk.  The  chief’s 
compound  was  fenced  off  with  some  fine,  tall,  poplar-like  trees, 
and  on  each  side  of  the  gateway  was  a skull.  In  the  morning 
I made  a return  present,  had  a little  further  talk,  and  got 
away  at  about  nine  o’clock.  Veya  was  really  in  the  neighbour- 
hood all  the  time,  but  was  afraid  to  show  himself ; notwith- 
standing, everything  passed  off  well,  with  the  exception  that 
they  would  sell  us  no  bread  stuff,  lest  we  should  report  too 
well  of  the  road. 

We  spent  the  next  night  in  one  of  the  Matadi  towns. 
Matadi  means  rocks,  and  very  fitting  is  the  name  to  a district 

VOL.  II.  O 


202  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS6-90 


distinguished  by  such  remarkable  stones.  Great  masses  of 
limestone  rise  bare  and  tall  from  a grassy  plain.  At  first 
sight,  and  at  a distance,  it  would  be  difficult  to  guess  what 
they  are.  In  appearance  they  are  most  like  the  well-known 
rock  of  Fingal’s  Cave,  but  for  the  fact  that  there  is  no  grass 
on  the  top  ; others  look  like  Milan  Cathedral,  or  some  florid 
Gothic  construction,  columns  upon  columns,  and  spirelets  upon 
spirelets.  They  vary  from  150  feet  to  250  feet  in  height,  and 
from  a quarter  to  half  a mile  long,  some  in  an  almost  con- 
tinuous chain,  others  standing  out  detached  and  lonely.  Some 
are  of  white  or  blue  streaked  marble,  others  a blue  limestone, 
like  that  which  we  burnt  for  lime  at  San  Salvador. 

At  Kinsaku  Nlemvo  found  friends  and  relatives,  and  learnt 
that  his  uncle  was  dead,  and  he  was  once  more  left  as  chief  of 
his  town.  He  made  up  his  mind  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it,  for  he  had  already  found  that  to  be  chief  he  must  follow. 
‘ country  custom,’  and  authorize,  indeed  instigate,  witch 
palavers.  His  people  would  not  have  him  as  a Christian,  and 
he  would  not  sell  his  soul  for  the  chieftainship  of  an  African 
village.  He  had  to  leave  me  at  once,  and  strike  acro.ss 
country  to  his  senior  uncle  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments. Arriving  there,  he  learnt  that  his  mother  was  dying, 
so  he  hurried  off  to  Lueji,  her  town.  He  was  just  in  time  to 
see  her.  She  raised  herself  up  and  said,  ‘ Is  that  really  you, 
Dundulu  ? ’ (his  name  as  a boy).  ‘ I am  dying  ; take  care  of 
your  sisters  when  I am  gone.’  She  was  too  much  exhausted 
to  talk  more,  after  she  had  asked  how  he  had  managed  to 
come  just  in  time.  At  eight  o’clock  the  next  morning  she 
died.  Nlemvo  said,  ‘ God  is  indeed  great  and  good  ; who  but 
He  could  have  arranged  it  that  I should  have  come,  and  just 
in  time,  too,  like  this?’  He  was  indeed  thankful  for  it.  It 
was  really  very  remarkable,  for  he  had  not  heard  of  any 
sickness. 

After  leaving  Kinsaku  we  slept  the  next  night  at  Kumbi, 
where  a very  superior  man  is  chief.  An  hour  and  a half  from 
Ndundu  we  sighted  San  Salvador,  and  just  after  sunset  of  the 
eighth  day  I knocked  at  Lewis’s  door.  They  could  scarcely 
believe  their  eyes.  Only  seven  w eeks  before  had  I bid  them 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  ■ 1886-90  203 


good-bye,  and  now  so  soon  back  again.  What  was  the 
matter?  How  had  I come?  I told  them  that  our  stations 
were  only  eight  days  apart  now.  . Next  day  Phillips  arrived 
with  his  betrothed.  They  could  not  be  married  at  Underhill, 
for  he  was  not  a resident  in  the  Congo  Free  State. 

With  the  news  of  the  death  of  Nlemvo's  mother  came 
a request  that  I would  go  over  to  the  funeral  on  the  following 
Monday.  He  also  asked  for  the  cloth  for  his  mother’s  shroud. 
On  Monday  morning  I started  early  to  attend  the  funeral. 
It  was  a journey  of  three  and  a half  hours  each  way.  When 
I was  ready  I suggested  that  we  should 
proceed  with  the  burying,  but  I found 
that,  as  usual  in  Congo,  the  winding  of 
the  chief  part  of  the  shroud  is  one  of 
the  last  offices.  The  body  was  brought 
out  of  the  house  wrapped  in  leaves,  and 
twenty-four  yards  of  cloth  as  the  first 
wrapping.  Then  they  spread  on  the 
ground  Nlemvo’s  part  of  the  shroud, 

150  yards  of  cloth  ; with  this  the  body 
was  enshrouded,  and  then  outside  of 
all  came  my  gift  of  six  yards  of  cream 
satin,  fastened  with  scarlet  braid.  The 

firing  of  guns  had  announced  to  the  neighbourhood  that  the 
funeral  was  in  progress.  The  women  folk  wailed  loudly,  and 
we  formed  the  funeral  procession.  The  grave  was  four  feet 
deep,  near  a nice  shady  tree,  ico  yards  outside  the  town. 
The  body  was  placed  on  sticks  over  the  grave  ; then  I spoke 
to  the  people  assembled  about  death,  what  it  was,  and  what 
it  leads  to,  and  the  necessity  and  way  of  preparation  for  it. 
After  that  the  body  was  placed  in  the  grave,  I offered  prayer, 
and  the  grave  was  filled  in. 

I arranged  with  Nlemvo  that  he  should  meet  me  at  Kin- 
saku,  nearly  forty  miles  away,  three  days  later,  and  started 
back  for  San  Salvador.  Every  one  must  have  felt  that 
Nlemvo,  with  all  these  new  .strange  Christian  ideas  and 
customs,  at  least  gave  his  mother  an  honourable  and  worthy 
burial,  and  his  white  man  came  himself  to  show  his  respect. 


H.  R.  I'HILLIPS 


204  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


Nlemvo’s  presence  and  respect  in  this  matter,  and  the  proper 
fulfilment  of  the  native  customs,  was  very  important ; it  would 
go  far  towards  removing  the  prejudice  against  these  too  new 
customs  and  religious  ideas,  which  seem  to  them  so  subversive 
of  all  proprieties. 

It  was  dark  an  hour  before  I reached  San  Salvador.  Next 
day  I started  on  my  return  journey,  reaching  Kintinu  by  the 
light  of  a glorious  moon.  We  were  so  well  known  at  Kintinu, 
that  there  was  no  chance  of  vexing  old  Nsimba  by  arriving 
late.  My  Wathen  guides  were  of  the  same  clan  as  he,  and 
he  was  very  glad  to  get  news  of  his  relatives  living  in  that 
neighbourhood.  On  the  third  day,  as  we  neared  Kinsaku 
I saw  an  envelope  stuck  in  a tree  near  the  junction  of  two 
roads  ; it  was  a note  from  Nlemvo,  to  say  that  he  had  passed 
on  to  Kinsaku  and  would  be  ready  to  go  on  with  us.  We  had 
both  of  us  crowded  a good  deal  into  those  past  three  days. 

We  heard  that  if  we  turned  off  at  the  Kinsuka  market-place 
we  could  reach  Kimpesi  that  afternoon  ; as  I was  anxious 
to  return  by  the  side  of  the  Lukunga  river,  instead  of  by 
the  waterless  plain  and  the  small-pox  town,  we  therefore  did 
not  go  into  Kinsuka  town,  but  steered  for  the  great  headland 
of  the  plateau,  towering  800  feet  above  the  plain  away  in  the 
blue  distance.  We  reached  Kimpesi  at  five  o’clock,  and  were 
well  received.  All  next  day  we  walked  through  the  populous 
Lukunga  valley.  Limestone  cropped  up  in  some  places. 
The  Lukunga  river  flows  at  the  foot  of  the  escarpment  of  the 
plateau.  The  cliffs  are  so  steep  there,  that  for  two  or  three 
hours  we  did  not  see  a single  footpath  up  them. 

We  passed  through  many  towns.  At  evening  we  reached 
Kikandikila,  to  which  belongs  a very  noted  market.  Next 
morning  was  the  day  of  the  great  market ; they  were  anxious 
that  I should  pass  it  before  the  market  time,  lest  strangers 
from  a distance  should  be  frightened,  and  the  market  per- 
manently suffer.  We  started  early,  and  the  news  ran  on 
ahead  that  the  white  man  was  coming.  We  met  a great 
stream  of  people,  and  bought  some  cassava- meal  puddings 
from  some  of  the  women  going  to  market.  We  also  bought 
some  sugar-cane,  crushed  pumpkin  pips,  fieldmice,  and  one 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  205 


very  large  variety  of  rat ; the  latter  for  the  men.  Some  men 
passed  carrying  cloth  of  European  manufacture  ; others  native 
cloth  made  from  the  fibre  of  the  leaflets  of  the  raphia  palm, 
bedsteads  of  the  stem  of  the  fronds  of  the  same  palm,  pottery 
of  all  kinds,  ivory,  knives,  hoes,  baskets,  meal-sieves  ; women 
and  girls  with  food  stuff's,  and  strangers  from  far  and  wide. 
I went  along  laughing  and  chatting  in  Kongo  with  those  who 
were  with  me,  and  very  few  of  the  hundreds  we  met  seemed 
very  much  disturbed  by  our  presence.  It  was  a capital 
advertisement,  for  it  started  people  talking  about  us  through 
a wide  stretch  of  country — the  wonderful  medicine,  and  what 
the  white  man  said  and  did  ; whether  he  was  proud  and  hard, 
or  whether  he  would  let  people  talk  to  him,  and  so  on. 

We  slept  at  a town  called  Mawete,  and  from  there  we  fol- 
lowed a course  two  or  three  miles  east  of  our  previous  route, 
thus  seeing  some  more  towns  new  to  me.  Everywhere  the 
people  were  anxious  to  see  me.  How  I longed  to  do  some 
quiet  itineration  in  this  district ! As  I neared  Wathen,  Nlemvo 
went  on  ahead,  and  soon  I met  Oram  and  Slade  at  five  o’clock 
on  the  eighth  day  home  again.  The  distance  to  San  Salvador 
is  about  no  miles.  By  the  old  road  via  Underhill  it  takes 
fifteen  or  sixteen  days  of  hard  marching  to  go  from  San 
Salvador  to  Wathen.  The  journey  across  country  occupied 
eight  days  there  and  eight  back.  So  at  last  the  thing  we 
tried  so  hard  to  do  in  the  early  days  of  the  mission  was 
accomplished.  It  was  a great  advantage  gained,  when  the 
distance  between  Wathen  and  San  Salvador  was  thus  halved. 
At  the  same  time  the  knowledge  obtained  of  the  people  and 
country  intervening  was  of  still  greater  importance. 

Michael  Richards  had  been  nearly  three  years  in  the 
country  in  June,  1888,  so  it  was  felt  that  he  ought  to  go  home 
on  furlough.  Out  of  the  party  which  had  come  out  with 
Thomas  Comber  in  October,  1885,  Comber  and  two  others 
were  dead.  Percy  Comber  and  Davies  were  on  furlough,  and 
Richards  was  the  only  one  of  that  party  on  the  field  at  that 
time.  Accordingly,  Richards  went  down  country ; he  was 
in  fairly  good  health  and  strength.  At  Banana,  while  waiting, 
with  Graham  and  Mrs,  Moolenaar,  for  a steamer,  Richards 


2o6  new  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S80-90 


was  attacked  by  a severe  haemoglobinuric  fever.  The  doctor 
of  the  Dutch  Trading  Company  treated  him,  but  this  terrible 
form  of  fever  so  weakened  him,  that  on  the  fifth  day,  Aug.  19, 
j888,  he  died.  He  was  an  earnest,  warm-hearted  man,  who 
faced  cheerfully  the  perplexities  and  difficulties  of  the  early 
days  at  Lukolela.  He  won  the  hearts  of  the  natives,  and  laid 
the  foundation  for  good  work  at  the  station.  He  wrote  a little 
before  his  death:  ‘The  Congo  Mission  is  a grand  enterprise. 
I feel  day  by  day  increasingly  grateful  to  my  Heavenly 
Father  for  permitting  me  the  high  privilege  of  working  in  it. 
What  are  worldly  position,  wealth,  ambition,  compared  with 
the  joy  of  taking  the  lamp  of  life  into  regions  of  utter  dark- 
ness and  death  ? Oh  that  suitable  young  men  at  home  would 
fully  realize  this  ! ’ 

Grenfell  was  very  anxious  to  commence  new  work  on  the 
upper  river.  He  could  not  do  as  he  would,  on  account 
of  the  smallness  of  the  mission  staff.  The  heavy  losses  by 
death  had  not  yet  been  repaired,  and  we  were  too  few  to 
permit  of  an  immediate  advance.  It  was  clear  that  we  could 
not  make  Stanley  Pool  the  home  and  dockyard  of  the  Peace. 
The  chronic  condition  of  starvation  was  bad  enough,  but  the 
crew  of  the  steamer  could  not  even  be  fed  there  between  the 
runs.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  seek  a suitable  position 
on  the  upper  river  for  the  mission  dockyard.  The  natives 
at  Bolobo  had  repeatedly  invited  us  to  build  amongst  them, 
and  we  were  very  desirous  of  occupying  that  populous  district. 
A very  good  site  was  available  between  the  townships  of  the 
Bobangi  and  the  Moye  people.  It  was  their  fighting  ground, 
and  therefore  left  vacant.  Just  the  place  to  be  occupied  by 
a Christian  mission.  Grenfell  went  up  in  the  Peace,  and 
completed  the  necessary  arrangements.  The  people  on  both 
sides  felt  that  the  presence  of  the  mission  would  be  a great 
protection  against  their  restless  enemies.  Accordingly,  James 
Showers,  a young  man  from  the  Cameroons,  was  placed 
in  charge  of  some  workmen,  to  carry  on  the  first  building 
operations  ; thus  to  simplify  Grenfell’s  task,  when  he  was  able 
to  commence  work  there  himself.  The  commencement  of 
Bolobo  Station  was  made  in  March,  1888. 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 18S6-90  207 


Grenfell  visited  the  new  station,  and  brought  up  supplies 
to  Lukolela  from  time  to  time.  In  August,  although  he  was 
still  obliged  to  make  his  home  at  Stanley  Pool,  he  was  looking 
forward  to  occupying  Bolobo  at  an  early  date.  He  started 
up  river  to  take  Harrison  to  Lukolela  to  relieve  Silvey,  who 
had  stayed  to  let  Richards  leave.  This  involved  leaving 
Brown  alone  at  Arthington  Station ; but  it  could  not  be 
helped.  A month  later,  in  September,  1888,  Grenfell  was 
able  to  commence  work  himself  at  Bolobo.  James  Showers 
had  built  him  a small  house.  He  erected  a small  mat- 
covered  building  to  serve  as  school-house  and  chapel.  The 
walls  were  made  of  the  arrow-guards  of  the  Peace,  and  the 
seats  were  planks  nailed  to  short  posts  in  the  ground. 

When  Stanley  reached  the  highest  point  on  the  Aruwimi 
river  attainable  by  the  steamers  which  brought  him,  he  left 
part  of  his  people  at  a camp  on  the  Aruwimi,  and  struck 
forward  himself  to  the  Albert  Nyanza.  The  people  left  on 
the  Aruwimi  starved  and  suffered  for  more  than  a year  ; and 
then,  hearing  nothing,  Herbert  Ward  was  sent  down  by  his 
brother  officers  to  communicate  with  Europe,  and  to  ask  for 
instructions.  On  his  return  Ward  called  at  Wathen.  Our 
colleague,  Slade,  accompanied  him  to  the  Luasi  river,  about 
an  hour  on  the  way  to  Stanley  Pool.  There  they  took 
a bath,  and  afterwards  chatted  about  the  Expedition  and  the 
sufferings  at  the  camp.  Slade  was  drying  his  shirt  in  the 
hot  sun,  and  caught  a chill  as  he  sat  in  the  shade.  Two  days 
later  he  complained  of  a slightly  swollen  lymphatic  gland 
behind  his  ear  ; he  was  a little  feverish,  and  went  to  bed.  The 
fever  increased,  and  on  the  third  day  symptoms  of  haemo- 
globinuria  appeared,  which  in  twenty  hours  had  quite  passed 
away,  leaving  him  very  weak.  Other  complications  ensued, 
and  after  three  weeks’  illness  he  died  on  December  20,  1888. 
We  felt  deeply  the  loss  of  a splendid  all-round  man  and 
a fine  missionary  in  Slade.  He  was  middle-aged,  and  had 
succeeded  well  in  business  at  home,  but  gave  up  his  work  at 
home  to  help  us  on  the  Congo.  Intensely  earnest,  warm- 
hearted, and  very  practical,  he  used  to  say,  ‘ The  young  men 
who  come  out  have  life  and  time  before  them.  I am  not 


2o8  new  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


exactly  a young  man  ; my  time  must  be  shorter,  and  I want 
to  crowd  as  much  [into  it  as  possible.’  He  was  much  loved 
by  all  about  the  station.  He  had  been  only  eight  months 
in  the  country,  but  in  zeal  and  deep  interest  in  the  work  he 
yielded  to  no  one. 

All  this  expenditure  of  energy  and  life  on  the  Congo  had 
not  been  in  vain  ; there  were  in  the  end  of  1888  six  stations, 
reaching  500  miles  into  the  interior,  and  the  whole  navigable 
river  had  been  explored,  with  the  exception  of  an  affluent  of 
the  Upper  Kasai.  A Christian  Church  had  been  formed  at 
San  Salvador,  and  during  the  year  1888  twenty-two  con- 
verts had  been  baptized.  T\velve  days  after  Slade’s  death, 
a Christian  Church  was  formed  at  Wathen.  A little  com- 
pany of  natives,  six  men  and  two  women,  became  thus  united 
in  Christian  fellowship. 

Samuel  Silvey  was  compelled  to  return  home  by  reason  of 
ill  health  in  April,  1889.  He  took  with  him  two  native  boys  ; 
but  a few  days  after  leaving  Banana  in  the  Portuguese  mail 
steamer,  he  was  attacked  by  a fever,  and  died  on  April  23. 
He  went  out  to  the  Cameroons  in  1883  to  undertake  school 
work  there,  and  returned  to  England  soon  after  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  country  by  Germany  in  the  end  of  1884.  After 
a season  of  rest  he  was  transferred  to  the  Congo  Mission,  and 
came  out  to  the  Congo  in  March,  1886.  He  was  never  robust 
in  health,  but  he  was  a man  deeply  in  earnest ; quiet  and 
retiring  in  his  manner,  his  gentle  kindly  way  won  the  hearts 
of  his  boys,  and  he  sought  earnestly  to  lead  them  to  the 
Saviour.  We  lost  in  him  a fellow  worker  loyal-hearted  and 
true. 

Two  new  colleagues,  J.  L.  Roger  and  J.  A.  Clark,  arrived 
out  in  March,  1889  ; and  on  May  31  Percy  Comber,  Cameron, 
and  Scrivener  returned  from  their  furloughs  with  two  new  men, 
Harry  White  and  William  L.  Forfeitt.  Again  in  December 
Davies  returned  with  three  others,  Wilkinson,  Glennie,  and 
J.  Lawson  Forfeitt.  Wilkinson  reached  Underhill  on  De- 
cember 2,  1889,  and  was  at  San  Salvador  twelve  days  later. 
After  ten  days  he  was  attacked  by  an  obstinate  fever.  The 
Portuguese  doctor  was  in  attendance,  and  Oram  nursed  him  ; 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  209 


but  their  care  and  efforts  were  unavailing ; he  died  on  De- 
cember 29.  J.  G.  Brown,  who  had  been  stationed  at  Stanley 
Pool,  had  resigned  his  connexion  with  the  Society,  and  was 
on  his  way  home  with  his  wife.  A few  days  after  leaving 
Banana  he  was  attacked  by  fever,  and  died  on  December  27. 
W.  H.  Stapleton  joined  the  mission  in  January,  1890. 

In  spite  of  these  losses,  the  accession  of  so  many  new 
colleagues  rendered  it  possible  to  push  further  ahead,  and 
seek  for  a new  site  for  a station.  Accordingly,  the  Peace 
started  from  Bolobo  to  reconnoitre,  on  January  28,  with 
Grenfell  and  Lawson  Forfeitt.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for 
natives  who  are  travelling  to  beg  a passage  on  the  steamer. 
Sometimes  there  is  room,  and  they  are  allowed  to  work  their 
passage.  On  this  trip  there  were  five  men  at  Bangala  who 
wished  to  go  to  Bopoto,  some  200  miles  higher  up.  A passage 
was  accorded  them,  in  hope  that  this  kindness  would  help 
Grenfell  and  his  colleagues  in  their  quest. 

One  of  the  men  was  an  important  chief  of  Bopoto.  Very 
wonderfully  has  God  prepared  our  way  and  made  things  work 
together  for  our  good,  and  this  was  but  another  remarkable 
instance.  When  the  Peace  reached  Bopoto,  the  chief  readily 
consented  to  allow  them  to  select  a site  for  a station.  When 
they  left  to  return,  he  forced  a fine  goat  into  the  boat,  which 
they  were  to  accept  as  a pledge  that  they  would  soon  return 
and  build.  Of  course  there  was  no  anxious  desire  for  the 
Gospel  on  the  part  of  those  wild  cannibals  of  Bopoto  ; they 
expected  that  material  advantages  would  accrue  from  our 
settlement  among  them,  and  so  they  invited  us.  The  Peace 
returned  to  Stanley  Pool  for  supplies,  and  found  Oram  and 
Stapleton  waiting  for  her. 

Preparations  for  the  new  station  were  made  at  Lukolela. 
In  the  great  forest  there  unlimited  supplies  of  wood  were 
to  hand,  so  carpenters  were  set  to  work  to  make  the  frame- 
work of  a house  for  Bopoto.  Oram  and  William  Forfeitt 
were  to  found  the  new  station,  and  Grenfell  and  White  took 
them  up.  The  party'  left  Bolobo  on  May  2,  1890.  The 
second  day  brought  them  to  Lukolela,  where  they  spent 
Sunday  and  Monday.  Although  their  destination  was  in  all 


210  NEJV  STATIOyS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : lSSO-90 


probability  Bopoto,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  run  first  some 
distance  up  the  great  Mobangi  river,  to  see  if  any  place  was 
still  more  inviting.  They  found  the  people  in  most  places 
timid,  and  in  some,  suspicious  and  ready  for  emergencies  ; 
but  there  were  some  fine  people  up  the  Mobangi ; by  no 
means  gentle  and  civilized,  for  they  were  gross  cannibals  and 
fierce  wild  people,  but  people  of  fine  possibilities. 

The  whole  wide  country  seemed  to  be  given  up  to  canni- 
balism, from  the  Mobangi  to  Stanley  Falls,  for  600  miles 
on  both  sides  of  the  main  river,  and  the  Mobangi  as  well. 
Cannibalism  is  a bad  habit,  but  it  does  not  necessarily  mark 
out  the  natives  who  observe  it  as  being  of  a lower  type  than 

others  who  do  not.  It  is  a well-known 
fact  that  some  of  the  cannibal  peoples 
of  Africa  are  far  in  advance  of  many 
tribes  who  would  shudder  at  the  very 
idea.  The  natives  of  Manyanga  and 
the  Lukunga  district  of  the  cataract 
region  were  far  more  degraded,  and 
no  less  cruel  and  wicked,  than  the 
wild  cannibals  of  the  Upper  Congo; 
but  they  would  scorn  the  idea  of 
eating  human  flesh  as  much  as  we 
would.  Often  in  the  early  days  did 
the  natives  beg  Grenfell  to  sell  some 
of  his  steamer  hands,  especially  his  coast  people  ; coming 
from  the  shore  of  the  great  salt  sea,  they  must  be  very 
‘ sweet  ’ — salt  is  spoken  of  as  sweet,  in  the  same  way  as 
sugar.  They  offered  two  or  three  of  their  women  for  one  of 
those  coast  men.  They  could  not  understand  the  objections 
raised  to  the  practice.  ‘You  eat  fowls  and  goats,  and  we 
eat  men;  why  not?  what  is  the  difference?’  The  son  of 
Mata-bwiki,  chief  of  Liboko  (Bangala),  when  asked  whether 
he  ever  ate  human  flesh,  said,  ‘ Ah ! I wish  that  I could 
eat  everybody  on  earth!’  Happily,  his  stomach  and  arm 
were  not  equal  to  the  carrying  out  of  his  fiendish  will. 
Fiendish  ; and  yet  there  is  something  free  and  lovable  in 
many  of  these  wild  men  ; splendid  possibilities  when  the 


\V.  L.  KORl'KIlT 


NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  21 1 


grace  of  God  gets  a hold  of  them.  Bapulula,  the  brother 
of  that  ‘ fiend/  worked  for  us  for  two  years — a fine,  bright, 
intelligent  fellow,  we  liked  him  very  much. 

Cannibalism  on  the  Upper  Congo  was  bad  enough,  but  it 
flourished  in  its  worst  forms  on  the  Mobangi.  There  was 
a much  greater  demand  for  human  flesh  than  the  local 
markets  could  supply.  The  people  did  not  as  a rule  eat  their 
own  townsfolk  and  relatives ; but  they  kept  and  fattened 
slaves  for  the  butcher,  just  as  we  keep  cattle  and  poultry. 
There  used  to  be  a constant  traffic  in  slaves  for  the  purpose 
between  the  Lulongo  river  and  the  Mobangi.  The  people 
on  the  Lulongo  organized  raids  on  the  upper  reaches  of 
their  river,  or  landed  at  some  beach,  to  raid  the  inland  towns. 
They  fought  the  unsuspecting  and  unprepared  people,  over- 
powered them,  killed  many  in  the  process,  and  brought  the 
rest  home  with  them.  They  divided  up  their  human  booty, 
and  kept  them  in  their  towns,  tied  up  and  starving,  until 
they  were  fortunate  enough  to  catch  or  buy  some  more, 
and  so  make  up  a cargo  worth  taking  to  the  Mobangi.  When 
times  were  bad,  these  poor  starving  wretches  might  often  be 
seen  tied  up  in  their  towns,  just  kept  alive  with  a minimum  of 
food.  A party  would  be  made  up,  and  two  or  three  canoes 
would  be  filled  with  these  human  cattle.  They  would  paddle 
down  the  Lulongo,  cross  the  main  river  when  the  wind  was 
not  blowing,  make  up  the  Mobangi,  and  sell  their  freight  in 
some  of  the  towns  for  ivory.  The  purchasers  would  then 
feed  up  their  starvelings,  until  they  were  fat  enough  for  the 
market,  then  butcher  them,  and  sell  the  meat  in  small  joints. 
What  was  left  over,  if  there  was  much  on  the  market,  would 
be  dried  on  a rack  over  a fire,  or  spitted,  and  the  end  of  the 
spit  stuck  in  the  ground  by  a slow  fire,  until  it  could  be  kept 
for  weeks,  and  sold  at  leisure. 

Sometimes  a section  of  a town  would  club  together  to  buy 
a large  piece  of  the  body  wholesale,  to  be  retailed  out  again  ; 
or  a family  man  would  buy  a whole  leg  to  divide  up  between 
his  wives,  children,  and  slaves.  Dear  little  bright-eyed  boys 
and  girls  grew  up  accustomed  to  these  scenes  from  day  to 
day.  They  ate  their  own  morsels  from  time  to  time,  in  the 


212  NEIV  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


haphazard  way  that  they  have,  and  carried  the  rest  of  their 
portion  in  their  hand,  on  a skewer,  or  in  a leaf,  lest  any  one 
should  steal  and  eat  it.  That  is  how  cannibals  are  made. 
To  this  awful  depth  have  these  children  of  the  Heavenly 
Father  fallen,  until  they  have  become  indeed  children  of  the 
devil ! Shall  we  let  these  ‘ innocent  heathen  ’ go  on  in  their 
simple  way,  or  shall  we  ‘trouble’  them  with  the  Gospel  ? This 
is  how  they  live  up  to  their  light ! Again  we  say,  ‘ If  the 
light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness ! ’ 
This  is  no  ‘worked  up’  picture,  it  is  the  daily  life  of  thousands 
at  the  present  time  in  darkest  Africa. 

Grenfell  was  the  first  to  discover  this  great  Mobangi  river, 
and  he  reported  the  presence  of  copper  rings  and  bracelets. 
At  first  the  trading  steamers  visited  the  other  affluents  to  buy 
the  ivory  which  abounded  in  them.  Hearing  that  copper  was 
in  demand  on  the  Mobangi,  they  sent  word  to  their  agencies 
at  Manyanga  to  buy  ingots  of  copper  in  their  district,  and  to 
send  them  up  to  Stanley  Pool.  When  they  went  to  the 
Mobangi,  the  natives  would  not  sell  their  ivory  for  any  of 
their  wares  ; all  that  they  asked  for  was  slaves — batu,  ‘ people 
to  eat.’  They  wanted  ‘ meat,’  not  brass  wire,  or  copper  ingots, 
or  beads,  or  cloth,  or  even  satins ; they  laughed  at  such 
things.  There  was  ivory  in  abundance,  but  it  was  only  in 
exchange  for  batu.  Several  attempts  were  made,  with  no 
success,  or  scarcely  any.  The  horrid  trade  with  the  Balolo  of 
the  Lulongo  thus  became  known,  and  representations  were 
made  to  the  Government.  A small  State  steamer  was  sent  to 
cruise  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mobangi  for  the  suppression  of 
the  traffic.  A few  examples  were  made.  The  report  spread 
up  the  Lulongo  that  the  State  was  on  the  look-out  to  shoot 
any  one  bringing  slaves  up  the  Mobangi ; forthwith  that  part 
of  the  trade  was  stopped.  One  or  two  French  offlcers  have 
been  killed  and  eaten  up  there  since,  and  there  have  been 
punitive  dispensations  on  both  banks.  Laws  have  been  made 
against  cannibalism,  but  it  will  be  some  time  yet  before  the 
custom  dies  out. 

An  old  missionary  from  Samoa,  who  had  spent  a long  life 
in  the  Pacific,  told  me  how  he  had  once  inquired  of  an 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  213 


excellent  Christian  man,  who  had  been  a cannibal,  as  to 
whether  human  flesh  is  specially  tasty.  Why  were  cannibals, 
who  had  their  goats  and  pigs,  so  eager  for  human  flesh? 
He  replied,  ‘ You  white  men  consider  pork  to  be  the  most 
tasty  of  meat,  but  pork  is  not  to  be  compared  with  human 
flesh ! ’ The  good  man  had  no  hankering  after  the  old  bad 
ways,  but  he  was  asked  seriously  a very  straight  question,  by 
one  he  loved  and  esteemed,  and  he  gave  him  a straight 
answer. 

We  have  asked  two  Christian  women  about  these  things  ; 
they  came  from  the  main  river.  ‘ Does  everybody  eat 
human  flesh  in  your  district?’  ‘Not  all.’  ‘Do  all  the 
men?’  ‘Nearly  all.’  ‘And  the  women?’  ‘Some  do,  but 
others  do  not  like  to  do  so.’  One  of  them  said  that  her 
mother  had  given  her  a head  to  cook  once,  and  she  had  done 
so.  She  said  that  they  were  only  able  to  get  human  flesh 
on  great  occasions — at  a funeral,  or  some  such  festivity.  To 
obtain  victims,  her  people  used  to  organize  raids  down  the 
main  river  and  up  the  Aruwimi.  They  would  then  make 
a sudden  swoop  on  one  of  the  quieter  towns  of  the  Basoko, 
and  catch  some  people,  say  four  or  flve,  and  bring  them  back 
for  the  feast. 

An  old  man,  with  whom  I talked  at  Bangala  in  1887, 
had  actually  killed  and  eaten  seven  of  his  wives.  There  had 
been  some  breach  of  morals,  or  in  some  way  he  had  been 
offended  ; so  he  had  made  a family  feast  of  the  delinquent, 
pour  eiicourager  les  autres  ! 

Why  do  we  tell  these  shocking  stories  ? We  have  told  how 
good  men  and  true  went  out  to  the  Congo  one  after  the 
other  only  to  die,  and  others  again  to  take  their  places  and 
die.  This  story  needs  some  justification.  The  one  explains 
the  other.  A great  need  exists,  and  men  have  gone  to 
supply  it.  These  fearful  customs  are  but  symptoms  ; the 
disease  is  deeper  and  still  more  terrible.  Our  Lord  and 
Master  commands  us  to  bear  the  Light  of  life  into  this 
abyss  of  heathen  night.  The  order  has  gone  forth  ; some 
shrug  their  shoulders,  others  have  heard,  and  have  gone.  As 
might  have  been  expected,  there  has  been  great  labour  and 


214  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1SS6-90 


sacrifice ; but  already  have  we  seen  some  of  these  cannibals 
brought  to  Christ,  and  living  earnest,  gentle  Christian  lives,  in 
striking  contrast  to  some  of  the  white  men  who  go  to  live 
among  them. 

It  was  felt  that  although  there  were  fine  sites  in  populous 
districts,  there  was  no  place  so  eligible  on  the  Mobangi  as 
Bopoto  ; so,  after  about  five  days  spent  in  exploring,  the 
Peace  descended  to  the  Congo.  A quiet  Sunday  was  spent 
at  the  Equator  Station  of  the  American  Mission,  after  which 
the  Lulongo  river  was  ascended  for  twenty  miles  to  visit 
Mr.  McKittrick,  at  the  Bonginda  station  of  the  Congo 
Balolo  Mission. 

On  May  29,  1890,  they  reached  Bopoto.  They  first 
steamed  the  whole  length  of  the  township,  to  see  whether 
there  was  any  better  site  than  that  which  had  been  previously 
chosen.  Everywhere  they  met  with  an  enthusiastic  welcome, 
but  it  was  clear  that  the  first  choice  was  the  best,  and  when 
the  decision  was  announced  a shout  of  joy  went  up  from  the 
assembled  people.  No  welcome  could  have  been  heartier. 
A moment  later  Oram  was  being  carried  up  the  steep. slope 
of  the  shore  on  the  shoulders  of  one  of  the  townsmen.  The 
purchase  of  the  site  was  soon  effected.  The  price  paid  was 
800  brass  rods,  two  pieces  of  cloth,  three  empty  preserved-fruit 
bottles,  two  knives,  two  forks,  two  spoons,  two  mirrors,  one 
cup  of  beads,  one  cup  of  cowries.  There  were,  of  course, 
arrangements  to  be  made  with  the  State,  and  proper  registra- 
tion of  title,  but  this  was  how  the  business  was  settled  with 
the  natives.  A spring  of  beautiful  clear  water  wells  up  on 
our  beach,  the  source  of  which  is  enclosed,  and  covered  to 
prevent  contamination.  This  is  a very  great  boon.  All 
these  preliminaries  being  arranged,  the  steamer  dropped 
down  to  the  Dutch  trading  factory,  an  hour  distant.  Next 
morning  they  returned,  and  landed  the  framework  of  the 
house  and  other  material,  cleared  the  site,  and  planned  the 
house  ; they  marked  out  the  garden,  and  planted  some  young 
coffee-trees  found  up  the  Mobangi,  also  sweet  potatoes,  and 
other  things  which  they  had  brought  with  them.  Next  day 
was  Sunday,  June  i,  and  they  conducted  the  first  service 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  ; 18SG-90  215 


under  a beautiful  wild  fig-tree,  which  stands  on  the  station 
ground.  Although  the  natives  could  not  understand  much  of 
the  Bobangi  language,  they  enjoyed  the  hymns  sung  to  the 
accompaniment  of  a harmonium.  These  they  pronounced 
malamu,  malainu  be  ! (‘  good,  very  good  ’). 

It  was  considered  well  that  Oram  and  Forfeitt  should  see 
a little  of  the  district  above  their  new  home  ; so,  leaving  some 
men  to  put  together  the  framework  of  the  house,  the  Peace 
went  up  to  the  Itimbiri 
or  Loika  river,  and 
ascended  that  affluent 
for  some  distance. 

The  State  had  been 
having  some  difficulties 
with  the  natives,  and 
had  had  occasion  to 
punish  them.  The 
people  therefore  w'ere 
very  timid,  and  ran 
away  on  their  ap- 
proach. It  could  hardly 
be  expected  that  these 
wild,  strong,  cannibal 
people  would  settle 
down  to  peaceful  inter- 
course with  Europeans, 
until  they  had  com- 
pared their  strength 
with  the  new-comers  oram 

and  learned  a few 

lessons.  There  were  places  which  we  found,  at  which  we 
might  settle ; but  there  were  many  places  at  which  we  could 
not  have  done  so.  Collisions  with  the  State  appear  to  have 
been  an  unfortunate  necessity.  After  four  days  on  the 
Itimbiri  they  returned  to  the  Congo  and  to  Bopoto.  The 
stores  were  then  landed  and  carried  up  to  the  site,  and 
the  steamer  returned  to  announce  that  the  new  station  had 
been  commenced. 


2i6  new  stations  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


A month  later,  on  July  ii,  1890,  the  Peace  started  up 
river  again,  to  enable  Weeks  and  Stapleton  to  found  another 
new  station.  They  made  their  way  to  Lulanga,  a fine 
town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lulongo  river.  Fifty  minutes  were 
occupied  in  walking  through  the  town,  which  was  practically 
one  long  street,  with  here  and  there  a quadrangle  opening  out 
of  it.  The  houses  were  built  closely  together,  and  they 
estimated  the  population  at  3,000  souls.  After  a break  of 
nearly  a mile,  there  was  another  town  of  1,000  inhabitants. 
It  seemed  to  be  indeed  a fine  position  for  a mission  station. 
The  Dutch  Trading  Company  had  already  a factory  in  the 
town.  One  consideration  weighed  heavily  with  them.  The 
field  was  wide,  and  there  was  no  reason  why  two  missions 
should  overlap  in  such  a country.  The  Lulongo  river  had 
been  chosen  as  the  field  of  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission,  and 
although  Lulanga  was  partly  on  the  main  river,  it  was  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Lulongo,  and  properly  belonged  to  the 
district  of  the  other  mi.ssion.  They  determined  to  run  up 
the  Lulongo  to  Bonginda,  and  discuss  the  matter  with 
Mr.  McKittrick,  of  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission.  He  would  have 
been  very  willing  for  us  to  build  at  Lulanga,  and  receive 
the  stores  for  his  mission  there,  thus  setting  his  colleagues 
free  for  further  work  up  the  Lulongo.  It  was  clear  that 
Lulanga  ought  to  be  occupied  ; but  as  the  matter  was 
further  considered,  it  was  felt  that  it  pertained  properly  to 
the  Congo  Balolo  Mission.  Mr.  McKittrick  promised  that 
if  we  went  elsewhere  he  would  open  a station  there  as 
soon  as  possible,  so  Weeks  and  Stapleton  went  back  to  the 
Congo  to  seek  a site  elsewhere. 

Crossing  over  to  the  right  (north)  bank,  at  the  first  place 
at  which  they  stopped  the  people  all  ran  away,  leaving  them 
an  empty  town.  They  called  to  them,  and  asked  them  to 
come  back  and  sell  some  fowls.  They  said  that  they  would 
return  if  the  white  men  would  keep  on  the  steamer,  and  send 
only  their  boys.  This  was  done,  and  in  a few  minutes  the 
people  learned  who  their  visitors  were,  and  accorded  them 
a hearty  welcome.  They  were  rejoiced  to  find  that  they 
did  not  come  to  fight,  and  wanted  Weeks  to  build  in  their 


NEM^  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 18S6-90  217 


town.  Weeks  and  Stapleton  walked  through  several  other 
towns,  and  decided  to  look  about  further  before  fixing  upon 
a site.  They  came  upon  one  large  town,  and  wanted  to  go 
ashore  ; but  as  soon  as  the  steamer  stopped  the  women  ran 
away  into  the  jungle,  and  the  men  prepared  to  fight.  They 
intimated  that  if  they  landed,  spears  would  be  thrown.  Two 
men  from  a neighbouring  town  were  sent  ashore  to  ask  them 
to  let  us  land  ; but  they  threatened  to  kill  them.  It  was 
deemed  best  to  go  away,  and  look  elsewhere.  After  visiting 
another  township,  they  w'ent  to  the  State  station  at  Bangala, 
and  obtained  an  interim  permission  to  build.  All  such 
matters  had  actually  to  be  referred  to  the  Central  Govern- 
ment in  Brussels  ; meanwhile  they  were  free  to  choose  a site 
and  build.  They  then  went  on  to  Bopoto,  and  to  the 
Itimbiri,  but  decided  after  all  to  build  in  the  district  below 
Bangala. 

The  land  there  is  very  low  ; it  is,  indeed,  impossible  to  find 
a site  not  liable  to  inundation  ; that  was  a discovery  to  be 
made  later  on,  but  they  chose  the  best  position  that  they 
could,  at  a place  called  Monsembe.  Close  to  the  town  is  a 
creek  which  communicates  with  the  Mobangi  river,  so  that 
the  station  possesses  an  exceptionally  large  field  for  itinera- 
tion by  water. 

Three  native  houses  were  bought,  and  the  stores  and 
personal  effects  were  placed  in  them.  Next  morning  the 
Peace  returned  to  Bolobo,  and  Weeks  and  Stapleton  were 
left  to  commence  the  work  at  Monsembe.  As  in  the  case 
of  Bopoto,  they  had  taken  with  them  the  framework  of 
a small  wooden  house,  that  they  might  run  up  something 
quickly,  in  which  they  might  live  with  some  measure  of 
comfort,  until  a larger  and  more  convenient  house  would  be 
ready. 

After  these  two  trips  the  Peace  needed  some  cleaning,  and 
in  September  White,  who  was  in  charge  of  her,  took  her 
down  to  Stanley  Pool,  to  get  stores  for  the  new  stations, 
which  were  badly  in  need  of  them.  On  her  arrival  she  was 
requisitioned  by  the  Government  of  the  Congo  State  to  convey 
arms,  ammunition,  and  troops  and  stores  to  Lusambu,  a remote 

VOL.  II.  p 


FIR.S'I  MISSION  HOUSE,  MONSEMHE 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  219 


station  of  the  State  on  the  Sankuru.  The  State  was  seeking 
to  raise  a barrier  to  the  incursions  of  the  Arab  slavers  working 
westward  from  Nyangwe,  and  the  commissaire  of  the  district 
of  Lusambu  considered  that  his  position  was  threatened  by 
a marauding  force  under  Pania  Mutumba.  He  declared 
a state  of  war,  and  considered  himself  justified  in  requisi- 
tioning the  Peace  to  bring  up  war  supplies ; she  being  con- 
sidered the  fittest  boat  to  convey  the  needed  stores  up  the 
Kasai  at  that  time  of  year.  We  are  naturally  anxious  that 
the  Peace  should  be  used  for  the  purpose  for  which  she  was 
sent  out ; and  above  all  to  keep  clear  of  all  that  would  belie 
her  name,  and  prejudice  her  character  and  the  mission  with 
which  she  is  connected.  The  Peace  and  the  mission  are  one 
in  the  eyes  of  the  natives,  and  cannot  in  any  way  be  separated. 
The  State  authorities  hauled  down  her  flag,  and  put  one  of 
their  own  captains  in  charge  of  her.  In  the  interests  of  the 
mission.  White  remained  with  the  steamer  and  her  crew. 

The  action  of  the  Government  of  the  State  in  thus  seizing 
the  Peace  caused  the  greatest  anxiety  to  the  missionaries  on 
the  field,  and  to  the  Committee  of  the  Society  at  home.  Our 
upper  river  stations  were  dependent  on  the  Peace  for  their 
supplies,  and  we  had  never  before  realized  that  she  was  liable 
to  such  seizure.  The  Committee  felt  it  incumbent  upon  them 
to  at  once  represent  the  facts  of  the  case  to  the  Government 
authorities  at  Brussels,  to  point  out  what  appeared  to  them 
the  illegal  nature  of  the  seizure,  the  peril  to  the  lives  of  the 
missionaries  at  stations  on  the  Upper  Congo,  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  regular  transit  of  supplies  by  the  Peace,  and  the 
outrage  upon  the  well-known  pacific  character  of  the  mission, 
by  using  the  steamer  for  transit  of  arms,  ammunition,  and 
troops.  In  response  to  this  representation  the  Government 
at  Brussels  promptly  telegraphed  instructions  to  the  authori- 
ties on  the  Congo,  to  return  at  once  the  steamer  to  the 
missionaries,  and  expressed  their  sincere  regret  at  the 
incident. 

In  view  of  the  facts  of  the  case  the  Committee  declined 
to  receive  from  the  Congo  Government  a money  payment 
in  satisfaction  of  the  wrong  committed.  They  objected 


P 2 


220  NEPy  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 

strongly  to  the  seizure  of  the  ship,  which  they  considered 
was  altogether  illegal,  and  they  further  objected  strongly  to 
the  purposes  for  which  the  steamer  was  used,  which  they 
considered  most  injurious  to  the  work  of  the  mission.  There 
is  good  reason  for  believing  that  no  such  high-handed  action 
will  occur  again. 

The  following  extract  from  the  report  which  White  wrote 
of  the  voyage  gives  some  interesting  details  : — 

‘ Do  not  suppose 
that  the  forced  trip 
was  without  interest. 
The  heart-burnings  of 
that  voyage  will  be 
forgotten,  even  as  the 
anxiety  has  already 
given  place  to  thank- 
fulness for  safe  keep- 
ing. The  State  cap- 
tain, a hearty  old 
Norwegian  tar,  was 
considerate  of  my 
position,  and  we  got 
along  without  any 
great  friction.  I was 
very  glad  to  find  that 
he  soon  got  a very 
high  opinion  of  our 
young  apprentice  en- 
gineer,FrancisSteane ; 
he  spoke  of  him  after- 
wards, in  the  company  of  a number  of  State  officers,  as  *•  the 
most  gentlemanlike  and  the  most  civilized  black  he  had  ever 
known.”  Our  two  Lukolela  steersmen  and  the  ever-merry 
Wangata  boy,  who  throws  the  lead,  stood  high  in  his  esteem  ; 
though  of  course  things  did  not  by  any  means  go  always  right.’ 
This  trip  of  the  Peace  practically  completed  the  survey 
of  the  main  waterways  of  the  Congo  system,  to  be  reached 
by  steamer  from  Stanley  Pool.  Beyond  the  obstacles  which 


NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  . 188G-90  221 


form  the  limits  of  the  5,000  miles  of  open  water  available  to 
the  steamers,  there  stretch  6,000  miles  more  of  waterway- 
available  to  steamers,  boats,  and  canoes  placed  upon  the 
upper  reaches,  many  of  which  are  already  thus  navigated. 
The  Congo  State,  then,  claims  to  have  11,000  to  15,000  miles 
of  navigable  waterway  in  its  wide  territory. 

The  condition  of  Grenfell’s  health  rendered  his  return  to 
England  imperatively  necessary ; the  Committee  therefore 
urged  him  to  take  his  furlough  ; and  he  arrived  in  England 
in  December,  1890.  While  in  England  he  called  attention 
to  the  insufficiency  of  the  Peace  to  supply  the  needs  of  all 
the  stations.  She  needed  a thorough  overhauling  and  careful 
repair ; but  even  then  her  freight  capacity  was  too  small, 
and  in  consequence  she  had  to  be  making  constant  trips,  to 
meet  the  growing  demands  made  upon  her.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  pointed  out  that  should  any  accident  befall  the 
Peace,  the  up  river  stations  would  be  in  serious  jeopardy, 
and  the  lives  of  the  missionaries  gravely  endangered.  In 
view  of  these  considerations,  the  Committee  came  to  the 
unanimous  conviction  that  in  the  interests  of  the  mission 
a second  steamer  had  become  a positive  necessity.  Speci- 
fications were  drawn  up  by  Grenfell,  and  tenders  invited, 
and  the  work  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Thornycroft 
& Co.,  who  had  built  the  Peace,  the  contract  price  being 

3,000.  The  few  extras  necessary  to  her  perfect  equipment, 
and  the  transport  and  reconstruction,  were  estimated  to  involve 
another  ;^’2,ooo.  The  total  cost  of  ;£^5,ooo  was  to  be  charged 
to  the  fund  raised  in  connexion  with  the  commemoration 
of  the  Centenary  of  the  Society  the  following  year  (1892). 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Peace,  the  Goodwill  was  constructed 
with  copper  rivets  at  Chiswick.  On  September  8,  9,  and  10, 
1891,  she  ran  a daily  trip  from  Chiswick  to  Westminster 
Bridge,  lying  all  day  on  view  off  St.  Thomas’s  Hospital, 
and  running  back  again  in  the  evening.  In  this  way  many 
of  our  friends  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  beautiful 
vessel,  and  admiring  the  careful  and  clever  arrangements 
designed  by  Grenfell  for  the  comfort  of  those  who  should 
travel  on  her,  and  for  convenience  in  handling  the  steamer. 


222  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90 


The  result  of  his  careful  thought  and  planning  is  a steamer, 
for  her  size  and  character  of  work,  as  near  perfection  as  one 
can  conceive.  I have  travelled  nearly  3,000  miles  on  her 
myself,  and  know  well  her  convenience,  and  what  a perfect 
vessel  she  is. 

After  her  trial  and  exhibition  trips  the  Goodwill  was  taken 
to  pieces  again,  packed,  and  shipped.  She  weighed  nearly 
twenty  tons.  Transported  overland  for  225  miles  from  Under- 
hill to  Stanley  Pool,  she  was  then  carried  up  river  by  the 
Peace  to  Bolobo,  and  there  reconstructed  on  Grenfell’s  return 


S.S.  GOODWILL 

to  his  station.  She  was  launched  on  the  Upper  Congo  on 
December  5,  1893.  All  the  work  of  her  reconstruction  was 
done  by  African  workmen,  and  natives  of  the  Upper  Congo 
run  both  the  steamers,  and  do  all  the  work.  Grenfell  brought 
to  England  with  him  Bungudi,  the  son  of  Ngambelenge,  late 
a prominent  chief  of  the  Bawumbu  on  the  hills  above  Stanley 
Pool.  This  young  man  was  present  at  Chiswick  during  the 
construction  of  the  steamer,  and  was  very  useful  in  her  re- 
construction afterwards  at  Bolobo.  He  has  become  a very 
efficient  engineer. 

The  Government  of  the  Congo  State  having  pushed  the 


NEPy  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1886-90  223 


explorations  of  its  vast  territories  to  their  utmost  limits,  were 
anxious  to  accomplish  a definite  demarcation  of  the  frontier 
lines.  Arrangements  were  made  with  Great  Britain,  France, 
Germany,  and  Portugal,  following  rivers  and  water  partings, 
which  admitted  of  no  further  dispute.  There  remained  one 
line  of  frontier,  which  ran  at  right  angles  to  everything  which 
might  serve  as  a natural  boundary.  The  southern  frontier 
of  the  State  dividing  it  from  the  Portuguese  possessions  is 
the  Congo  river  from  its  mouth  to  a point  a little  above 
Noki,  near  Underhill  Station  ; thence  for  200  miles  it  follows 
a line  due  east  of  Noki  to  the  Kwangu.  The  line  then  runs 
to  the  south  for  1 50  miles,  the  Kwangu  river  forming  the 
boundary  to  a point  on  the  eighth  degree  of  south  latitude  ; 
from  thence  the  line  zigzags  in  an  easterly  direction  through 
the  Lunda  country,  across  to  the  Kasai.  The  river  systems 
here  flow  all  of  them  in  a northerly  direction,  cutting  this 
line  at  right  angles.  The  possibilities  of  dispute  on  this 
line  were  very  great ; it  was  necessary  to  carefully  delimit 
this  piece  of  frontier.  A Portuguese  commissioner  was 
appointed  ; and  King  Leopold  requested  the  Committee  of 
the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  to  allow  Grenfell  to  serve  as 
his  commissioner  for  the  delimitation.  Grenfell’s  great 
geographical  ability,  displayed  in  his  exploration  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  Upper  Congo,  marked  him  out  as  specially 
qualified  to  undertake  the  duty.  The  Committee  felt  that  it 
would  be  a matter  of  great  interest  to  gain  a knowledge  of 
that  region ; the  expedition,  too,  was  to  be  entirely  of 
a pacific  character  ; hostilities  were  to  be  carefully  avoided, 
even  if  it  involved  the  abandonment  of  the  enterprise ; and 
the  work  would  not  require  many  months.  In  view  of  these 
considerations  the  Committee  felt  that  they  ought  not  to 
withhold  their  sanction  to  his  response  to  the  king’s  request. 

As  always  happens  in  Africa,  there  were  difficulties  and 
delays.  Grenfell  arrived  out  on  the  Congo  in  December, 
1891,  to  start  on  the  road  to  the  meeting  point,  but  a change 
in  the  Portuguese  commissioner  cau.sed  a year  to  elapse  before 
the  two  commissioners  met,  some  twenty-five  miles  south  of 
the  Franz  Josef  Falls  on  the  Kwangu.  The  delimitation  was 


224  NEW  STATIONS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 18S0-90 


satisfactorily  accomplished,  and  the  joint  expedition  returned 
by  way  of  Loanda,  in  July,  1H93.  Grenfell  had  travelled  1,000 
miles  on  oxback  ; a new  experience  to  him,  but  a most  con- 
venient manner  of  getting  over  the  country.  King  Leopold 


GRENFELI,  ON  OXRACK 


marked  his  appreciation  of  the  service  rendered  by  Grenfell 
by  creating  him  a Commander  of  the  Royal  Order  of  the 
Lion,  and  presented  the  insignia  of  the  order  set  in  diamonds. 
The  King  of  Portugal  also  conferred  upon  him  a decoration. 


AN  ARAB  SANUAl. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1 890-9 


‘ The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us  ; whereof  we  are  glad.’ — Psai.m  cxxvi.  3, 

Thus  far  the  story  has  been  one  of  foundation  work. 
Although  of  such  immense  importance  to  that  which  is  to 
be  reared  upon  it,  it  is  nevertheless  work  which  has  little 
to  show  for  itself  above  the  surface.  There  comes,  however, 
a time  when  this  initial  stage  is  past,  and  something  is  to 
be  seen  for  all  the  labour  bestowed.  It  may  be  that  only 
a few  courses  of  masonry  appear  above  the  surface,  but  they 
do  appear,  and  give  some  indications  as  to  what  is  to  be  the 
outcome  of  the  operations.  This  is  the  stage  of  the  work  at 
present  being  carried  on  over  the  upper  river,  and  we  must 
now  note  the  progress  of  the  work  in  that  region  from  the 
bare  commencements  just  recorded  until  the  present  day. 

Arthington  Station. 

The  work  at  Arthington  Station,  Stanley  Pool,  has  always 
been  attended  with  great  difficulties  on  account  of  the  scarcity 
of  food.  The  Congo  State  has  its  dockyard  at  Leopold- 
ville, employing  a number  of  skilled  European  workmen  and 
engineers  ; there,  and  at  the  trading  factories  about  the  Pool, 
there  are  a great  number  of  white  men  to  be  fed.  There  is 
also  a large  force  of  soldiers  to  be  kept,  and  the  great  coffee 
plantations  of  the  State  require  a large  number  of  labourers  ; 
all  this  is  further  complicated  by  the  railway  station  and 
workmen.  In  exempting  the  natives  in  the  neighbourhood  of 


226  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


the  Pool  from  other  forms  of  taxation,  the  State  demands 
the  production  of  a certain  quantity  of  cassava  puddings 
{kwanga)  from  each  district.  The  food  stuff  is  brought  in 
and  duly  paid  for  ; but  the  natives  so  dislike  being  forced  to 
work  for  much  more  than  the  supply  of  their  own  personal 
needs,  that  there  is  not  much  left  for  general  markets  after  the 
State  has  been  supplied.  It  has  been  no  unusual  thing  at 
Arthington  Station  for  all  w'ork  to  be  suspended,  because 
there  was  no  food  whatever  to  be  bought  for  the  boys, 

and  they  had  to  be  sent  out 
to  shift  as  they  could,  and 
buy  a little  here  and  there 
from  State  work-people,  or 
manage  somehow.  Very 
little  could  be  done  in  the 
way  of  cultivation,  for  the 
land  was  so  sandy  and  poor 
that  it  was  not  able  to  yield 
a fair  crop  of  manioc.  In- 
deed, of  late  years  there 
have  been  so  many  hungry 
people  prowling  about  in 
search  of  food,  that  if  any- 
thing had  been  planted  its 
yield  would  all  have  been 
stolen. 

In  1888-9  an  earnest 
effort  was  made  to  learn 
Kiteke,  to  make  that  the  language  of  the  station,  and  gather 
some  of  the  local  boys  to  our  school.  The  best  and  brightest 
of  those  boys  was  lye.  He  was  a Muteke,  but  the  little 
fellow  had  somehow  learnt  a great  deal  of  Kongo.  With 
great  difficulty  we  induced  his  father  and  mother  to  let  him 
come  to  us,  as  he  wished.  For  a long  while  they  would  not 
hear  of  it,  so  we  could  only  get  help  from  him  when  the  boy 
came  in  to  see  us,  which  was  very  often.  At  last  he  came  to 
live  with  us,  and  was  most  useful.  Brown  and  Roger  were 
hoping  to  be  able  to  do  some  itineration  with  his  help.  He 


I.  L.  ROGER 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  227 


was  a most  lovable  boy,  and  in  1889  was  head  of  the  school. 
He  had  learned  of  Jesus,  and  there  was  good  evidence  that  he 
had  given  his  heart  to  the  Saviour.  His  influence  was  very 
good  and  helpful  to  the  other  boys,  whom  he  often  urged  to 
follow  Jesus.  He  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  On 
September  21,  1889,  the  boys  came  to  receive  their  weekly 
portion  of  soap.  Four  of  them  ran  with  a merry  shout  down 
the  slope  to  the  river,  to  bathe  and  wash  their  clothes.  lye 
was  a little  in  advance  of  the  others  ; he  plunged  into  the 
water  first,  and  in  a moment  a terrible  shriek  told  that 
a crocodile  had  taken  him.  Brown  and  Roger  rushed  down, 
but  nothing  could  be  done.  The  reptile  had  taken  him 
down  into  the  deep  water,  and  held  him  under  until  he  was 
dead.  Nothing  more  was  ever  seen  of  him.  The  fine,  bright, 
helpful  lad,  the  hope  of  the  station,  was  gone.  His  loss 
was  a great  blow  to  all  ; his  place  was  never  refilled.  He  was 
the  first  of  the  Bateke  to  receive  the  Gospel.  Happily,  he 
was  prepared  to  die.  He  had  always  been  the  interpreter  in 
the  towns,  and  the  natives  all  seemed  fond  of  him  ; his  bright, 
winsome  manner  gave  him  a good  deal  of  influence  with  them, 
young  as  he  was. 

Three  years  later  the  long-expected  trouble  between  the 
State  and  the  Bateke  natives  came  ; the  Bateke  all  ran  away 
to  the  French  side  of  the  river  From  that  time  the  language 
of  the  station  has  been  Kongo,  and  the  boys  on  the  station 
have  been  drawn  from  the  Kongo-speaking  district  to  the 
west.  The  chief  industry  on  the  station  has  been  brick- 
making. There  is  a school  of  forty  boys,  who  during  the  dry 
season  work  in  the  brickfield  in  the  morning,  and  go  to 
school  in  the  afternoon  ; they  do  some  more  work  again 
after  school.  In  the  rainy  season  they  build  with  the  bricks 
which  they  have  made,  and  work  in  the  gardens  and  planta- 
tions. Two  brick  dwelling-houses  and  a visitors’  house  have 
been  erected,  a school-house,  and  two  stores,  one  being  50  ft. 
by  20  ft.  The  expenses  of  the  station  have  been  materially 
reduced  by  the  .sale  of  bricks.  In  1897  they  brought  in  .£^150; 
in  1898,  ;£^85.  At  present  Roger  and  Gordon  are  associated 
in  the  work  there. 


228  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


Since  the  completion  of  the  Congo  Railway  a siding  has 
been  made  on  our  ground,  bringing  the  trucks  close  to  our 
store.  The  railway  crosses  our  ground,  and  passengers  can 
be  taken  up  and  set  down  at  Arthington  on  proper  notice 
being  given. 

When  possible,  itineration  work  has  been  carried  on  to 
some  extent,  and  on  the  station,  frorn  among  the  employes 
of  the  mission,  there  has  been  gathered  a little  Church  of  ten 
members.  The  best  has  been  done  under  difficult  circum- 
stances. The  position  is  not  at  all  good  for  a mission  station, 
but  a station  at  the  head  of  the  railway,  and  as  a base  of 
operations  on  the  upper  river,  is  most  necessary ; a better 
position  for  that  purpose  could  not  be  found.  There  are  great 
possibilities  in  the  way  of  itineration  : a wide  country  lies 
unevangelized  to  the  south  and  west  of  the  station,  while 
a large  population  must  gather  presently  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  railway  terminus.  The  station  has  a frontage  on 
the  river  of  200  metres,  with  a depth  of  750  metres. 

Bolobo  Station. 

In  March,  1888,  we  were  first  able  to  fulfil  our  promise  to 
the  natives,  and  begin  to  build  at  Bolobo.  Grenfell  placed 
there  James  Showers,  a young  man  of  Cameroons,  with  some 
workmen,  to  build  some  houses  and  stores,  and  so  made 
preparations  for  his  own  arrival  in  September  of  that  year. 
The  land  above  Stanley  Pool  is  very  high,  I'eaching  in  some 
parts  to  1000  feet  above  the  river.  After  eighty  miles  the 
high  plateau  drops  down,  until  at  Bolobo  it  is  not  more  than 
200  feet  above  the  water.  The  station  is  built  on  the  slopes, 
and  occupies  a fine  position.  It  is  nearly  190  miles  above 
Stanley  Pool,  and,  standing  as  it  does  on  the  neutral  ground 
between  the  Bobangi  and  Moye  towns,  the  site  has  been  the 
scene  of  many  fierce  fights  between  them. 

The  Bobangi  are  the  riverine  people  so  often  mentioned 
already  ; they  are  but  colonists,  and  it  is  believed  that  they 
came  originally  from  the  left  bank  of  the  Mobangi  river 
(Mai  ma  Bobangi).  The  comparatively  narrow  strip  of  land 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  229 


between  the  Lower  Mobangi  and  the  Congo  river  is  known  by 
the  natives  as  the  Island  of  the  Bobangi.  We  are  not  in 
a position  to  speak  with  certainty  as  to  the  origin  of  these 
people,  but  it  is  considered  that  they  come  from  the  penin- 
sula which  bears  their  name.  These  river-side  colonies  are 
characteristic  of  the  Congo.  The  true  inhabitants  of  the 
district  liv'e  nearly  always  inland,  away  from  the  river,  while 
on  the  banks  are  found  colonies  of  traders,  having  business 
connexions  and  feuds  up  and  down  river.  These  people 
trade  upwards  for  ivory,  slaves,  cam-wood,  fish,  and  pottery, 
and  downwards  for  cloth  and  brass  wire,  a few  guns  and 
powder,  and  a little  salt  and  crockery.  In  some  places  these 
people  are  strong  and  numerous,  but  only  scattered  along 
the  river,  and  generally  at  feud  with  their  landlords.  The 
Bobangi  stretch  nearly  300  miles,  their  language  serving  as 
a lingua  franca. 

So  long  as  the  slave  trade  flourished  the  Bobangi  flourished, 
but  with  its  abolition  they  are  tending  to  disappear,  for  their 
towns  were  replenished  by  slaves.  Scarcely  any  children  are 
to  be  found  among  them  ; by  reason  of  their  gross  immorality 
the  tribe  is  fast  dying  out.  The  Moye  people,  who  live  on 
the  north  side  of  the  station,  are  very  different  from  the 
Bobangi  in  this  respect.  Their  towns  swarm  with  children. 
You  would  see  100  children  in  a Moye  town  to  one  in 
a Bobangi  town  of  the  same  size,  so  that  the  contrast  is 
very  marked.  They  speak  a dialect  very  different  from  the 
Bobangi,  and  have  their  home  in  a creek  thirty  miles  to 
the  north  of  Bolobo.  The  real  people  of  the  district  are  the 
inland  Batende.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  until  the  beginning 
of  1899  have  not  been  able  to  establish  friendly  relations 
with  them.  The  Bobangi  and  others  frighten  them  with  evil 
reports,  so  that  they  fear  us.  Language  is  the  great  difficulty, 
for  until  we  can  properly  communicate  with  such  timid  people, 
we  cannot  allay  their  fears.  For  years  they  were  positively 
hostile,  but  latterly  there  has  been  no  marked  indication  of 
that.  There  is  a market  attended  by  them  about  an  hour 
from  the  station.  Very  recently  some  of  the  Christian  lads 
have  made  their  way  into  the  country  for  some  distance,  so 


230  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9 


we  may  hope  to  see  the  difficulties  soon  removed,  and  evan- 
gelistic work  commenced  among  them. 

The  customs  of  the  people  were  very  cruel.  On  the  upper 
river,  as  well  as  in  the  cataract  region,  it  is  the  custom  to  kill 
a slave  as  part  of  the  ceremony  of  the  promulgation  of  a law. 
The  people  gather  together  and  discuss  ; terms  are  agreed  to, 
the  law  proclaimed,  and  in  the  presence  of  all  a slave  is  put 
to  death,  as  a warning  of  what  will  happen  if  the  law  is 
disobeyed.  This  impressive  ghastly  ceremony  had  been 
enacted  just  before  Grenfell  came  to  settle  in  the  new  station. 
It  appeared  that  the  local  chiefs  had  met  to  discuss  the 
penalties  to  be  enforced  in  case  of  wounding  and  violence, 
and  the  prices  of  slaves  and  food.  It  was  agreed  that  all  cases 
of  drawing  blood  were  to  be  fined,  that  slaves  from  down  river 
were  to  be  bought  for  ^oo  brass  rods  (21  inches  long  and 
•18  of  an  inch  in  diameter);  slaves  from  up  river  were  to  be 
1000  rods  each.  Two-pound  cassava  puddings  were  to  cost 
one  rod  each.  In  token  of  their  agreement,  the  chiefs  joined 
in  purchasing  a slave,  and  killing  him  on  the  spot.  The 
monument  of  the  compact  was  the  corpse  of  the  slave  hanging 
from  a conspicuous  tree,  and  there  it  hung  for  many  long 
months. 

Grenfell  wrote  in  July,  1889  : ‘ I have  told  of  the  continual 
loss  of  life  at  Bolobo,  involved  by  the  constantly  recurring 
little  wars  between  the  various  townships.  These  little  wars, 
however,  do  not  constitute  a heavier  drain  upon  the  vitality 
of  the  country  than  does  the  killing  of  witches,  and  those 
poor  victims  who  are  sacrificed  at  the  funeral  of  almost  every 
free  person  that  dies.  Within  a very  narrow  radius  from  our 
station,  say  four  or  five  miles,  killing  for  one  cause  or  another 
seems  to  be  a daily  occurrence.  We  have  had  but  one  little 
fight  during  the  past  month,  but  we  know  of  one  man  who 
has  been  killed  for  witchcraft,  and  of  eleven  lives  that  have 
been  sacrificed  at  the  funeral  obsequies  of  one  of  the  wives 
of  a neighbour  of  ours.  The  man  killed  for  witchcraft  we 
knew  very  well.  He  had  been  here  only  a day  or  two  before, 
was  a man  of  very  good  position,  and  well  disposed  towards 
us.  There  was  a great  outcry  among  his  friends  after  his 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ism-i)  231 


death,  for  the  accuser  failed  to  find  “ the  witch  ” — some  not 
uncommon  growth  in  the  intestines  which  is  deemed  incontro- 
vertible proof.  In  this  case  no  trace  of  it  could  be  found,  and 
so  by  general  consent  the  poor  man  was  cleared  of  the  charge 
of  witchcraft,  but  his  life  was  gone.  The  day  our  neighbour’s 
wife  died  a man  and  woman  were  killed,  so  that  she  might  not 
go  alone  into  the  spirit-world.  Her  corpse  was  then  wound  up 
in  cloth,  and  wrapped  round  and  round  with  piece  after  piece 
till  it  made  a big  barrel-shaped  bundle  two  yards  long  and 
one  in  diameter.  Hearing  that  two  more  victims  were  to  be 
.sacrificed  on  the  day  of  the  funeral,  I determined  at  least  to  put 
in  a protest,  and,  together  with  Miss  Silvey,  arrived  on  the 
scene  just  as  the  executioner  was  carrying  the  young  woman 
to  the  grave,  at  the  mouth  of  which  the  young  man  who  was 
to  be  her  companion  in  misery  was  bound  and  ready  for  the 
last  act — that  of  being  placed  in  the  grave  in  a sitting  posture 
and  buried  alive,  with  the  corpse  supported  on  their  knees. 
It  was  indeed  a sad  sight  to  see  a couple  of  well-built  young 
people,  with  fine,  intelligent  faces,  weeping  bitterly  at  the 
pro.spect  of  a cruel  death,  and  their  mute  appeals  for  help. 
I at  once  took  a place  by  the  side  of  the  executioner  at  the 
grave,  and  proceeded  to  impeach  with  all  the  vigour  of  which 
I was  capable  the  conduct  of  all  concerned.  The  husband 
soon  began  to  look  uncomfortable,  and  before  I had  finished, 
beat  a retreat  through  the  ranks  of  the  wondering  crowd. 

‘ Having  exhausted  my  stock  of  Lo-bobangi,  I spoke  more 
fully  through  our  interpreter,  and  told  them  very  emphatically 
of  the  wickedness  of  the  whole  proceeding,  and  that  God, 
who  alone  could  give  life,  would  call  all  those  to  account  who 
broke  His  law  and  took  it  away.  Hereupon  one  of  Mungulu’s 
friends  took  up  the  matter  and  asked,  “ Are  these  people  who 
are  about  to  be  killed  your  friends?”  “Do  they  belong  to 
this  country?”  “Are  they  not  strangers?”  “Are  they  not 
bought  and  paid  for?”  We  told  them  again  of  God’s  law, 
and  that  it  held  good  for  strangers  as  well  as  friends,  and  for 
black  people  as  well  as  white,  and  that  as  surely  as  they  broke 
the  law  they  would  suffer  for  it. 

Ry  this  time  Mungulu  ventured  forth  again,  but  I assailed 


232  PROGRESS  O.V  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-!) 


him  with  such  a storm  of  hard  words  that  he  retreated  once 
more — my  heart  was  hot  within  me,  to  see  the  sorrow  of  these 
poor  weeping  ones  on  the  brink  of  their  cruel  grave.  We  had 
another  talk  to  the  people,  and  Mungulu  came  back  once 
more ; and  feeling  calmer,  I spoke  a few  plain  words,  and 
threw  on  him  the  responsibility  for  the  whole  affair.  I told 
him  that  without  doubt  he  would  have  to  stand  before  the 
judgement  seat  of  God,  and  face  both  those  whom  he  was 
about  to  kill,  and  the  Great  Judge  whose  law  he  was  about 
to  break. 

‘ Poor  old  man ! he  very  manifestly  quailed  at  the  thought 
of  meeting  his  victims  in  another  world.  But  what  could  he 
do  ? Submit  to  mere  words  ? Allow  himself  to  be  over- 
come by  the  threat  of  a far-off  contingency?  No!  We  had 
scarcely  turned  our  backs  before  the  interrupted  ceremonies 
were  resumed,  and  in  a few  minutes  all  was  over,  and  the 
beating  of  the  deep  bass  tom-tom  announced  the  fact  for  miles 
around.  Since  then  seven  more  lives  have  been  sacrificed 
round  the  same  grave,  one  of  our  own  workmen  being  of  the 
number,  and  also  a mother,  and  a dear  little  child. 

‘ We  have  redeemed  several  of  these  poor  people,  who  have 
managed  to  run  away  to  us  ; yet  it  makes  but  little  difference, 
for  the  money  goes  to  buy  other  slaves,  who  are  sacrificed 
instead.’ 

During  the  first  half  of  1889  old  Ibaka,  the  chief  of  Bolobo, 
died.  Seven  or  eight  of  his  slaves  were  killed  to  accompany 
him  to  the  other  world.  One  wonders  that  slaves  stop  with 
their  masters,  when  such  is  the  custom  of  the  country.  But 
where  is  a slave  to  run?  Wherever  he  goes,  he  will  but  be 
enslaved  by  some  other  master,  if  he  is  not  given  up,  so  that 
his  position  will  not  be  in  any  way  bettered.  In  1 890,  while 
the  station  folk  were  busy  hauling  the  Peace  out  of  the  water, 
they  noticed  a crowd  on  one  of  the  islands  a little  below. 
On  inquiring  the  cause,  they  learned  that  a runaway  slave, 
having  been  recaptured,  was  being  publicly  beheaded  as 
a warning  to  others.  Another  man  was  killed  for  a like 
offence  the  ne  - '-  day.  When  Grenfell  urged  them  to  give  up 
these  cruel  .'as^i'ms  and  laws,  the  people  said  that  they 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1890-9  233 


must  kill  some  slaves  from  time  to  time,  to  keep  the  rest 
in  order. 

One  day  Ngoi,  the  chief  from  whom  the  station  site  was 
purchased,  offered  to  sell  a slave  to  James  Showers,  the 
Cameroons  assistant.  He  naturally  declined  to  buy  him. 
Ngoi  said  nothing,  but  walked  slowly  away,  and  in  a few 
minutes  the  slave's  head  lay  bleeding  in  the  dust.  Stapleton, 
who  was  there  at  the  time,  heard  of  it,  and  went  into  the 
town ; he  saw  the  headless  trunk  lying  in  the  grass  on 
the  beach.  Two  men  were  dissecting  the  body,  to  find  the 
organ  which  they  consider  demonstrates  the  possessor  to  have 
been  a witch.  They  ran  off  at  Stapleton’s  approach.  Ngoi 
was  perfectly  cool  about  it,  and  said  that  if  we  had  bought 
the  man,  this  would  not  have  happened. 

About  the  same  time  Grenfell  related  another  story  which 
gives  a further  picture  of  Bolobo  life  : ‘ We  are  having  rather 
exciting  times  just  now,  for  our  neighbour,  Ngoi  (the  leopard), 
is  at  war  with  his  neighbours,  the  Bonzungo  people.  Ngoi’s 
town  commences  within  a few  yards  of  our  fence,  but  while 
the  combatants  carried  on  their  fighting  in  the  bush  at  the 
back  it  did  not  interfere  with  us  very  much.  But  now, 
seeing  that  Ngoi’s  people  are  losing  heart,  and  the  Bonzungos 
waxing  bold  enough  to  come  and  attack  them  in  their  town, 
the  proximity  is  too  great  to  be  comfortable.  Ngoi  himself 
does  not  go  out  to  fight ; he  stays  at  home — cunning  rogue — 
making  “ medicine,”  saying  all  sorts  of  mysterious  words,  and 
doing  all  sorts  of  mysterious  things,  winding  up  with  a cere- 
mony in  which  he  is  assisted  by  the  children  of  the  town, 
who  chant  responses  both  to  the  blessings  he  invokes  upon 
his  warriors,  and  to  the  imprecations  on  his  enemies.  Some- 
thing after  this  style : the  children  sit  in  a circle,  and  he 
dances  before  the  fetish  he  has  made  and  set  up  in  the  midst 
of  four  standing  spears — “ May  the  hearts  of  all  our  people 
be  strong,  and  all  our  bullets  hit  our  enemies.”  “Yes,  let  it 
be  so.”  “ May  the  Bonzungo  men  fear  and  run  away,  and 
none  of  their  bullets  touch  us.”  “Yes,  let  it  be  so.”  “May 
our  men  kill  all  the  Bonzungos,  and  burn  their  town.”  “Yes, 
let  it  be  so.”  “ May  our  men  never  fear,  and  may  our  town 

Q 


VOL.  II. 


234  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9 


never  be  burned.”  “Yes,  let  it  be  so,”  and  so  on,  and  so  on. 
Some  of  the  fighting  men  lay  but  little  stress  on  Ngoi’s 
charms,  and  have  said  disrespectful  things  of  their  chief,  on 
account  of  his  staying  at  home  while  they  go  out  to  fight. 
For  this  they  came  under  his  displeasure,  ?ind  a charge  of 
witchcraft  was  conjured  up  on  a side  issue,  and  the  poisonous 
ordeal  water  resorted  to.  One  of  our  workmen,  among 
others,  had  to  submit  to  the  test,  but  as  the  man  who  admin- 
istered it  had  been  promised  a good  fee  from  the  accused, 
they  passed  safely  through  it,  and  the  accuser  has  had  to 
pay  for  having  made  a false  accusation.  That  Ngoi  is  down 
in  the  dumps  is  not  surprising,  for  altogether  he  is  having 
a bad  time  of  it,  and  the  fact  that  his  powder  is  nearly  finished 
adds  to  his  anxieties.  However,  it  has  this  redeeming  feature, 
it  is  serving  as  an  excuse  for  a proposed  journey  to  Stanley 
Pool  to  buy  more.  He  will  thus  be  able  to  get  away  without 
absolutely  caving  in. 

‘ I had  one  or  two  talks  with  the  neighbouring  chiefs  with 
a view  to  having  the  matter  settled,  but  they  said  that  the 
combatants  will  not  agree  “to  talk  the  palaver,”  till  twenty 
people  have  been  killed.  The  oldest  chief  of  the  district  has 
since  been  in  with  his  official  gong,  telling  me  that  he 
has  been  sounding  it,  and  declaring  that  the  war  must  cease, 
and  that  the  disputants  must  go  to  him  and  talk  the  palaver. 
There  is  now  very  good  reason  to  hope  the  matter  will  be 
settled  without  further  fighting.  The  pity  is  that  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  events  we  must  expect  another  dispute 
to  break  out  between  other  sections  of  our  neighbours ; for 
it  is  1‘are  indeed  for  Bolobo,  with  its  thirty  or  forty  thousand 
people,  divided  into  some  dozen  clans,  to  be  at  peace  for  any 
length  of  time  together.  The  loss  of  life  from  these  petty 
wars,  the  number  of  those  killed  for  witchcraft,  and  of  those 
who  are  buried  alive  with  the  dead,  involve,  even  within  our 
narrow  limits  here  at  Bolobo,  an  almost  daily  drain  upon  the 
vitality  of  the  country,  and  an  incalculable  amount  of  sorrow 
and  suffering.  It  will  be  a long  up-hill  struggle  to  overcome 
the  superstition  and  cruelty  which  is  rampant.’ 

The  Government  was  not  indifferent  to  these  murderous 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1890-9  235 


ways.  It  required  some  time  to  develop  its  forces,  and  for 
a while  many  evils  had  to  be  winked  at,  but  eventually  the 
time  came  to  assert  its  power.  In  1890  the  district  com- 
missioner called  the  people  together,  and  warned  them  against 
the  burying  of  slaves  alive  in  the  graves  of  free  people,  and 
the  reckless  killing  of  slaves  which  then  obtained. 

The  natives  did  not  like  the  rising  power  of  the  State.  So 
long  as  they  felt  that  they  were  stronger  than  the  whites, 
they  tolerated  them,  in  a masterful  way,  for  the  advantages 
reaped  from  their  presence.  Our  own  settlement  among 
them  was  not  unattended  with  difficulty.  Soon  afterwards 
some  of  the  chiefs  who  disliked  Ibaka  made  our  advent  an 
excuse  for  accusing  Ibaka  of  bringing  the  white  men  into 
the  country.  When  the  land  was  first  arranged  for,  Ngoi, 
the  chief  and  owner  of  the  plot,  was  away  at  the  Pool 
trading.  Dingulu,  his  chief  slave,  assumed  the  responsibility, 
in  opposition  to  all  the  other  chiefs ; but  Ngoi,  when  he 
returned,  accepted  the  payment.  The  plot  at  first  was 
sixty  yards  by  eighty  yards,  but  it  has  since  been  extended, 
and  the  whole  terrain  is  properly  surveyed,  registered,  and 
secured  to  us  in  the  State  registers. 

The  land  business  was  settled  without  much  difficulty ; 
but  there  was  a feeling  against  white  men  generally,  and 
especially  so  against  the  State.  The  people  became  insolent 
and  haughty,  and  it  was  evident  that  trouble  was  at  hand. 
On  two  occasions  the  Bolobo  Station  of  the  International 
Association  had  been  mysteriously  burnt.  There  was  always 
a fear  that  the  mat-thatched  houses  of  our  station  might  go 
the  same  way,  when  so  much  rudeness  and  bad  talk  were 
abroad.  Just  at  this  time  a force  of  500  soldiers  was  travel- 
ling up  country  overland  as  far  as  Bolobo,  there  to  be  taken 
on  the  State  steamers,  and  carried  up  river  en  route  for  the 
Upper  Welle  and  Nile  district,  under  van  Kerkhoven.  The 
force  reached  Bolobo,  and  nothing  happened  until  the  flotilla 
of  steamers  was  leaving.  As  they  steamed  past  the  Moye 
towns  the  steamers  were  fired  upon.  The  soldiers  landed 
and  burnt  and  looted  the  towns.  The  natives  ran  away  into 
the  grass,  and  great  numbers  crossed  to  the  French  side  of 


236  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


the  river.  They  awoke  to  the  fact  that  Bula  Matadi,  the 
State,  was  not  the  helpless  thing  they  had  so  long  thought. 
This  happened  early  in  1891. 

The  state  of  Grenfell’s  health  led  the  Home  Committee 
to  urge  him  to  take  his  furlough,  and  he  had  gone  home  in 
December,  1890.  Glennie  and  Harrison  were  then  in  charge 
at  Bolobo  ; they  were  joined  later  on  by  Darby.  The  mis- 
sionaries were  very  anxious  that  their  fine  township  should 
not  be  broken  up.  Many  of  the  natives  talked  wildly 
of  leaving  the  State  territory,  but  they  were  eventually 
persuaded  to  settle  down  again  as  before ; those  who  had 
crossed  the  river  were  induced  to  return,  and  so  the  Bolobo 
towns  were  rebuilt. 

Darby  had  a good  knowledge  of  the 
language,  and  did  some  earnest  evan- 
gelistic work  in  the  towns,  but  for  a 
long  while  the  main  energy  of  the 
station  went  out  in  building  operations. 
The  school  work,  which  Miss  Silvey 
had  carried  on  with  so  much  energy 
in  1889,  had  flagged  when  she  took  her 
furlough  in  the  end  of  the  year  ; it  was 
continued,  however,  with  the  boys  and 
girls  who  lived  on  the  station.  What 
with  house-building,  brick -making, 
steamer  voyages,  and  repairs,  there  was 
plenty  of  hard  work  to  be  done. 

Grenfell  was  back  at  Bolobo  in  October,  1893.  In  1894 
both  Darby  and  Harrison  had  to  return  to  England,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  health  of  their  wives,  and  thus  two  earnest  men 
were  lost  to  our  mission.  Harrison  was  chiefly  engaged  in 
steamer  work.  In  1896  Glennie  had  to  retire  for  the  same 
reason.  All  three  are  engaged  in  pastoral  work  in  the  home 
country,  deeply  regretting  their  inability  to  continue  in  the 
work  to  which  they  had  devoted  their  lives. 

Changes  at  Lukolela  led  to  the  transfer  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Scrivener  to  Bolobo  in  1895.  The  Hannah  Wade 
printing-press  and  plant  were  also  brought  to  Bolobo.  Clark 


T.  CLARK 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  237 


returned  from  his  furlough  with  Mrs.  Clark  in  1896,  and  he 
too  was  located  at  Bolobo  instead  of  Lukolela,  as  previously. 
There  had  been  great  - industrial  activities  tending  to  the 
erection  of  permanent  dwelling-houses,  stores,  &c.,  on  the 
station.  Many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  bricks  were  turned 
out.  In  1895  Howell  erected  the  handsome  school  building 
which  enables  the  services  on  the  station  and  the  school  work 
to  be  conducted  with  comfort  to  all.  The  labour  on. the 
station  is  recruited  from  the  upper  river.  In  the  early  days 


SCHOOL  CHAPEL,  BOLOBO 


coast  labour  was  also  employed,  especially  for  skilled  work  ; 
but  the  school-boys  of  those  days  have  grown  up,  and  now 
they  are  men.  Through  the  careful  training  of  Grenfell  and 
his  colleagues,  these  educated  natives  have  rendered  the  coast 
workmen  unnecessary,  and  now  the  brick  making  and  laying, 
carpentering,  blacksmith  work,  engineering,  steamer  work, 
repairs,  and  everything  is  done  by  upper  river  boys  and  men. 
The  industrial  work  of  the  mission  is  much  more  advanced  at 
Bolobo  than  at  the  other  stations.  The  dock-work  of  the 
steamers  gives  an  excellent  opportunity  for  teaching  smith  and 


238  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9 


engineering  work ; while  the  large  staff  needed  to  carry  on 
the  steamer  and  station  work  have  required  much  more 
accommodation,  and  so  the  opportunity  has  been  afforded  to 
instruct  many  in  carpentry  and  house-building.  The  special 
circumstances  of  Bolobo  Station  have  thus  added  this 
industrial  character  to  the  work. 

The  smaller  requirements  of  the  other  stations  have  given 
smaller  opportunities  for  industrial  education,  but  it  is  carried 
on  in  a humbler  way  notwithstanding,  and  on  the  lines  most 
necessary  locally.  At  Arthington  brick-making  has  been 
specially  noted,  70,000  to  90,000  bricks  having  been  turned 
out  regularly  for  several  years. 

Beside  all  this  technical  education,  since  the  printing-press 
was  brought  to  Bolobo  in  1895,  a great  deal  of  very  fine  press- 
work  has  been  turned  out.  Books  are  printed  and  bound  in 
first-class  style,  and  general  printing  work  done  for  our  owm 
and  other  missions.  Scrivener  was  a printer  by  profession 
before  he  entered  college  to  prepare  for  mission  w^ork  : so  he 
has  applied  his  technical  knowledge  to  the  work  to  good 
purpose.  There  is  a commodious  printing  office  and  a good 
staff,  and  the  work  is  self-supporting. 

On  the  beach  are  the  engineers’  shops,  an  iron  slipway 
eighty  yards  long,  and  all  appliances  for  hauling  the  steamers 
up  out  of  the  water  for  repairs  and  painting.  Carelessness  in 
keeping  up  a steamer  would  soon  render  her  useless,  and  it  is 
due  to  the  excellent  care  of  Grenfell  and  his  colleagues  that 
the  steamers  are  so  well  found,  and  able  so  thoroughly  to  do 
their  work  and  supply  the  stations. 

While  all  this  industrial  training  is  being  carried  on,  the 
spiritual  side  of  work,  that  for  which  we  have  come  into  the 
land,  is  kept  well  to  the  fore.  In  the  early  years  the  spiritual 
progress  must  of  necessity  be  very  slow.  There  is  a long 
time  during  which  the  soil  appears  hopelessly  rocky,  and  the 
good  seed  quite  unable  to  find  lodgement.  Building  work, 
changes,  sickness,  and  death  seem  to  combine  to  hinder  all 
efforts,  and  the  task  would  appear  to  be  altogether  hopeless, 
if  we  had  not  faith  in  our  God  and  in  His  mighty  power. 
Then,  to  the  joy  of  all,  one  is  found  interested,  and  presently 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  239 


he  makes  profession  of  faith,  and  boldly  confesses  Christ 
before  his  fellows.  Then  another  and  another,  until  the  work 
grows,  and  the  apparently  hopeless  work  becomes  full  of  hope  ; 
then  comes  the  harvest,  and  we  wonder  at  the  greatness  of  the 
blessing. 

The  time  of  apparently  fruitless  preliminary  work  must 
form  part  of  the  history  of  every  mission  station,  and  Bolobo 
was  no  exception.  The  last  few  years  have  seen  a great 
change  come  over  Bolobo,  and  already  a little  Church  of 
twenty-six  members  (January,  1899)  has  been  gathered  ; 
most  of  them  are  from  the  di.strict,  and  all  have  been  more  or 
less  educated  and  trained  on  the 
station.  That,  too,  must  always  be 
the  first  step. 

There  is  (January,  1899)  a good 
school,  with  some  200  names  on  the 
roll,  and  an  average  attendance  of 
160  to  180.  It  is  now  conducted  by 
Clark,  and  the  ladies  of  the  station 
interest  themselves  much  in  this  work. 

Miss  Lily  M.  de  Hailes  is  carrying  on 
an  excellent  work  among  the  girls  and 
women  in  the  towns  and  on  the  station ; 
she  is  indefatigable  in  the  schools. 

Having  a good  knowledge  of  medicine, 
she  undertakes  the  medical  work  of  the  station.  In  spite  of 
her  hard  work,  she  enjoys  excellent  health. 

The  preaching  in  the  towns  has  not  as  yet  borne  fruit,  but 
patient,  continuous,  seed-sowing  work  will  bring  its  harvest. 
In  every  department  the  station  is  now  thoroughly  at  work, 
and  great  things  must  be  expected  from  Bolobo,  with  its  fine 
staff,  great  advantages,  and  abundant  promise. 

The  soil  of  Bolobo  has  been  consecrated  by  two  graves. 
Mrs.  Scrivener  had  been  an  earnest  worker  in  connexion  with 
Bloomsbury  Chapel,  and  when,  in  July,  1895,  Scrivener  brought 
her  as  his  wife  to  Lukolela,  and  afterwards  to  Bolobo,  she 
interested  herself  very  heartily  in  the  work  there.  On  March 
15,  1898,  she  succumbed  to  fever. 


240  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 

On  Grenfell,  too,  a sore  trial  fell  in  1899.  His  daughter 
Patience,  having  completed  her  education  in  England,  came 
out  to  live  with  her  parents  at  Bolobo.  From  the  first  she 
rendered  most  willing  and  efficient  help  in  the  school  and 
general  work  of  the  station.  In  May,  1898,  she  accompanied 
her  father  on  a trip  to  Sargent  Station,  Yakusu.  Mrs.  Stapleton 
urgently  needed  help  in  the  school  work:  Miss  Grenfell 
volunteered  to  assist  her  and  stayed.  Stapleton  writes:  — 

‘ She  had  the  happy  knack  of  adaptation  ; the  evident  draw- 
backs of  pioneer  work  appeared  to  intensify  her  love  for  it, 
and  it  was  with  heartfelt  joy  that  we  saw  her  rise  to  her 
responsibilities,  and  grow  daily  more  self-reliant  and  capable. 
The  Yakusu  girls  soon  grew  fond  of  her.’  Further  assistance 
came,  and  Miss  Grenfell  was  free  to  return  to  Bolobo  to  help 
her  father.  Three  or  four  days  before  reaching  home  a fever 
attacked  her,  and  haemoglobinuria  developed,  under  which  she 
rapidly  sank.  Her  father  was  with  her  on  the  steamer.  They 
reached  Bolobo  on  March  16,  1899,  and  two  hours  later 
Miss  Grenfell  passed  away  ; she,  too,  lies  buried  there.  In 
her  the  mission  has  lost  a most  promising  voluntary  helper. 

Lukolela  Station. 

The  station  at  Lukolela  was  founded  by  Darby  and  Biggs 
on  November  13,  1886.  It  is  300  miles  above  Stanley  Pool. 
It  was  built  in  a very  dense  forest  of  lofty  trees,  and  the  first 
great  business  was  to  let  the  daylight  in.  Men  had  been  left 
ashore  there  to  clear  two  years  before,  and  they  had  felled  the 
trees  which  grew  on  a small  patch.  The  trees  ran  to  1 20  and 
150  feet  in  height ; most  of  them  had  great  buttresses  at 
their  bases,  so  large  that  it  was  sometimes  necessary  to  erect 
platforms  for  the  woodmen  to  cut  them  above  their  buttresses. 
Some  trees  could  only  be  burnt  down.  The  wood  of  some 
was  worthless,  and  had  to  be  burnt ; indeed,  at  first  even 
good  wood  had  to  be  burnt  to  make  room  for  the  first  house. 
As  the  clearing  progressed,  some  of  the  wood  was  dressed  and 
prepared  for  other  stations.  It  is  the  finest  piece  of  forest  on 
the  river.  We  have  200  metres  of  frontage,  and  the  plot  runs 


LUKOLEI.A  MISSION  HOUSE;  a young  oil  palm  in  the  foreground  {Elais  guineeitsis) 


242  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1890-9 


half  a mile  deep.  All  has  not  been  cleared,  neither  is  there 
any  intention  to  waste  so  many  magnificent  trees ; but 
a sufficient  clearing  has  been  made  for  the  safety  of  the 
buildings  erected.  There  is  plenty  of  game  about,  monkeys 
galore,  and  great  apes,  as  big  as  a man,  have  been  shot  there. 
Leopards  were  very  troublesome.  On  the  occasion  of  my 
first  trip  up  the  river,  we  spent  a day  or  two  at  Lukolela. 
The  first  night  Darby  said  that  he  had  set  a trap  for 
a leopard,  which  had  carried  off  several  of  his  goats.  It 
was  a very  strong,  cage-like  trap,  with  a trap- door.  The 
whole  was  bound  together  with  cane,  and  fastened  with  nails 
and  hoop-iron.  At  about  eight  o’clock  the  trap-door  fell, 
and  there  were  sounds  of  a struggle.  We  rushed  for  lights 
and  guns,  and  ran  out  ; the  leopard  had  torn  the  trap  to 
pieces  and  made  his  escape.  Darby  killed  him  later  on,  but 
not  until  the  creature  had  taken  his  dog  and  most  of  his 
goats. 

At  Lukolela  a ridge  of  ‘ cerebral  ’ haematite  ironstone  crops 
up  out  of  the  surrounding  swamps,  and  reappears  across  the 
river.  It  rises  to  about  eighty  feet.  It  is  this  which  has 
favoured  the  forest  growth.  Above  and  below  the  station 
and  township,  and  behind,  are  swamps  and  low  lands.  Of 
the  people  who  are  the  real  inhabitants  of  the  country  but 
little  is  known  as  yet.  Darby,  Scrivener,  and  Whitehead 
have  paid  them  a few  visits,  and  found  some  large  towns 
of  quiet,  timid  people  among  the  swamps,  on  other  ridges 
and  hummocks,  best  reached  by  tortuous  channels  of  water, 
rather  than  by  the  frequent  wading  of  the  forest  route.  The 
people  are  friendly,  and  more  might  be  done  with  them 
if  they  were  more  get-at-able.  There  are  miles  and  miles 
of  country  which  are  under  water  at  high  flood,  and  never 
more  than  two  feet  or  so  above  the  water.  The  great  600 
miles  of  swamp  reach  to  sixty  miles  below  Lukolela.  The 
inland  country  is  called  Mpama. 

Below  the  station,  and  separated  from  it  by  a bridged 
creek,  was  a row  of  towns  for  three  or  four  miles  along  the 
bank.  These  people  were  all  Bobangi,  or  their  slaves  drawn 
from  all  directions,  and  chiefly  from  the  region  of  the  Lulongo 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1800-0  243 


and  Uluki  rivers.  The  language  is  practically  the  same  as 
that  spoken  at  Bolobo,  so  that  the  same  literature  serves  for 
each.  The  language  of  the  Mpama  people  is  considerably 
different ; it  has  not  been  much  studied  yet. 

The  story  of  Lukolela  is  so  far  a disappointment — not  that 
the  work  has  been  without  fruit,  for  there  have  been  some 
gathered  into  the  Church  from  among  the  townspeople,  men 
and  women.  The  main  difficulty  has  been  the  shifting  of  the 
population.  It  appears  that  the  population,  when  the  station 
was  founded  in  1886,  was  between  5,000  and  6,000  in  the 
riverine  colonies.  About  two  years  later  the  chief  Mpuki  did 
not  agree  with  his  neighbours,  or  they  with  him.  When  the 
tension  became  acute,  Mpuki  crossed  over  with  his  people  to 
the  opposite  (French)  side  of  the  river.  This  exodus  took 
away  a large  number  of  people.  In  1890  or  1891,  a chief 
from  one  of  the  Tower  towns  was  compelled  by  the  majority 
of  his  people  to  leave  the  State  side,  and  several  went  with 
him.  About  1893,  the  rest  of  the  people  at  the  lower  towns 
either  went  across  to  the  same  place  as  the  deposed  chief,  or 
took  up  their  residence  inland.  Towards  the  end  of  1894, 
a soldier  who  had  been  sent  to  cut  firewood  for  the  State 
steamers  on  an  island  off  the  towns,  left  his  work  to  make  an 
evil  request  in  one  of  the  towns.  He  shot  the  man  who 
refused  him.  The  rascal  of  a soldier  was  properly  dealt  with 
by  the  State  officer  in  charge  ; but  this  outrage  combined 
with  other  smaller  difficulties  to  produce  a panic,  and  nearly 
all  the  people  left  for  the  French  side,  or  hid  away  inland. 
So  the  fine  township  has  broken  up. 

The  best  work  at  Lukolela  has  been  the  reduction  of  the 
language.  From  the  first  that  task  was  attacked  with  energy 
by  Richards  and  Darby.  Darby  compiled  a large  vocabu- 
lary. Glennie  worked  on  the  same  language  at  Bolobo. 
Whitehead  arrived  out  in  1890  ; he  possessed  himself  of  the 
words  accumulated  by  his  colleagues,  and  put  so  much  energy 
and  ability  into  the  study  of  the  language,  that  his  colleagues 
begged  him  to  complete  the  work,  and  carry  a Grammar  and 
Dictionary  through  the  press.  He  has  worked  up  all  that  has 
been  acquired  by  himself  and  others  at  Lukolela  and  Bolobo, 


244  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


and  has  published  a Dictionary  of  between  7,000  and  8,000 
words.  The  alphabet  uses  nineteen  of  our  letters,^  /^,/,  q,  r,  v, 
and  .r  not  being  required ; c represents  the  sound  ts,  as  in  itself, 
and  z is  pronounced  as  dz  in  adze.  The  name  of  the  language 
is  Lo-bobangi.  It  is  allied  to  the  Kongo  language,  although 
there  are  great  and  many  differences.  The  four  Gospels 
have  been  translated  into  the  language  by  Whitehead  and 
.Scrivener  and  printed  in  the  mission  press  ; besides  these, 
there  is  a good  hymn-book  of  207  hymns ; also  the  Peep  of 

Day,  translated  by  Rev.  A. 
Billington  of  the  A.B.M.U., 
Mo7'e  about  Jesus,  by  Lu- 
sala,  and  other  Bible  story- 
books. A monthly  maga- 
zine, Ntoto  li  ineya,  ‘sparks,’ 
is  being  printed  and  pub- 
lished at  Bolobo.  The 
commencement  of  a litera- 
ture is  being  formed  in  the 
language,  and  we  may  hope 
that  in  a year  or  two  the 
New  Testament  in  it  will 
be  complete. 

The  life  at  Lukolela  was 
very  rough  in  the  early 
days  ; two  rough  shanties 
were  run  up  for  temporary 
shelter,  while  they  built  a 
habitable  house.  The  natives  were  very  much  puzzled 
as  to  our  purpose  in  coming.  They  would  ask,  ‘ Have  you 
come  on  behalf  of  the  State?’  ‘No!’  ‘Have  you  come  to 
sell  cloth?’  ‘No!’  ‘Then  who  are  you,  and  what  do  you 
come  for  ? ’ ‘ We  have  come  to  tell  you  about  God.’  They 
would  look  at  each  other,  and  then  at  the  strange  white  men, 
and  wonder  whether  they  were  not  mad.  They  had  left  their 
home  and  travelled  far  to  give  them  information  about 
something  that  did  not  concern  them ; nothing  about 
trade,  or  food,  or  daily  life ; only  about  God,  forsooth  1 


J.  WHITEHEAD 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  245 


What  could  they  have  come  for?  It  was  a mystery  to 
them. 

In  June  of  1888  Darby  saw  part  of  the  ceremony  of  the 
investiture  of  chieftainship  among  the  Bobangi.  Eyoka-koli 
had  become  very  rich,  and  was  possessed  of  so  many  slaves 
that  he  could  no 
longer  rank  as 
an  elder ; hemust 
become  a mo- 
kondzi,  ‘ a chief.’ 

There  was  a 
great  feast,  and 
native  charms 
were  made. 

After  some  days, 
the  man  went 
into  his  house, 
and  was  shut  in 
for  ten  days, 
while  feasting 
and  dancing 
were  kept  up 
outside.  On  the 
great  day,  the 
drums,  guitars, 
and  cymbals 
were  brought 
together.  One  of 
the  drums  was 
ten  feet  high, 
and  was  reached 
by  a ladder. 

What  could  be  more  imposing?  Ndombi  appeared  clad  in 
leaves,  his  skin  rubbed  with  powdered  cam-wood  and  oil, 
giving  it  the  appearance  of  crimson  flock.  Marks,  stripes, 
and  spots,  in  divers  colours,  still  further  adorned  him.  In  one 
hand  he  carried  a stick  with  the  crimson  feather  of  a parrot 
on  the  end  ; in  his  other  hand  he  held  an  elephant’s  tail.  He 


NDOMBI  IN  FETISH  DRESS 


246  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


sat  down  on  a m^t,  surrounded  with  fetishes.  Several  lads, 
dressed  in  skins,  manoeuvred  about.  The  new  chief  rose, 
and  shouted,  ‘Wo!  Wo!  Wo!’  the  music  stnick  up,  and  the 

grey-headed 
man,  danc- 
ing, jigged, 
writhed,  and 
shook  his 
muscles,  and 
performed 
for  some 
time.  A man 
appeared 
leading  a 
dog.  A thud, 
and  the  dog 
lay  dead.  It 
was  cooked, 
and  there  in 
public  the 
chief  ate  dog 
flesh,  a royal 
dish.  The 
ceremonies 
were  com- 
plete. Eyo- 
ka-koli  then 
assumed  a 
new  name;  he 
was  known 
thenceforth 
as  Ndombi. 
Darby  says 

NUOMBI  I.N  OFFICIAL  DKESS  of  him  that 

he  was  not 

very  amiable  in  appearance ; he  was  as  greedy  as  possible, 
as  cunning  as  a fox,  and  a big  coward.  ‘ I have  seen 
him  hurrying  his  men  off  to  fight,  and  hiding  himself  behind 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9  247 


a house  at  the  first  report  of  a gun.’  He  had  an  estab- 
lishment of  thirty  or  forty  wives  ; the  principal  wife, 
Munyankutu,  had  great  power  over  him,  for  she  happened 
to  be  free-born,  while  he  was  not.  His  gala  dress  was  a hat 
covered  with  cowries ; his  cloth  was  reddened  with  cam-wood. 
Cloth  bracelets  and  leglets  covered  with  cowries,  and  an 
elaborate  belt  of  raphia  fibre,  completed  his  attire.  His 
elephant-tail  sceptre  was  an  inseparable.  He  was  a very 
superstitious  man,  and  always  had  a charm  tied  round  one 
of  his  fingers. 

The  people  are  very  superstitious.  There  was  a man  named 
Giant,  and  very  tall  he  was ; his  business  lay  largely  in  food 
stuffs.  Whitehead  tells  how  ‘ he  took  cold,  and  was  seized 
with  rigors.  They  applied  their  medicines  and  methods,  but 
the  man  died.  A person  of  no  significance  whatever  had 
a dream,  which  explained  the  death  as  having  been  caused 
by  ghosts  which  were  angry  with  Giant  for  selling  things 
dearly.  A law  was  made,  and  immediately  food,  which 
had  risen  very  high  in  price,  became  cheaper  ; loaves  of 
cassava  bread  became  at  once  double  in  size.  The  effect  of 
the  ghosts  on  the  price  of  food  long  continued.’  One  day 
Whitehead  saw  one  of  his  workmen  sitting  in  the  cold  wind 
on  a rainy  day.  He  advised  his  going  home  and  changing 
his  wet  cloth  for  a dry  one,  but  he  said,  ‘ It  does  not  matter. 
People  do  not  die  of  a cold  wind  ’ ; people  only  get  ill  and  die 
by  means  of  witchcraft. 

Cruel  things  were  done  at  Lukolela  as  at  Bolobo,  but  the 
people  were  quieter,  and  not  nearly  so  numerous,  so  the 
occasions  were  fewer.  On  one  of  the  houses  Darby  saw 
seven  skulls  on  the  roof,  and  four  more  dangling  from  a forked 
stick.  Two  hands  also  were  fastened  up.  On  one  occasion 
the  people  managed  to  catch  one  of  their  enemies  from  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  and  beheaded  him  at  once. 

Arthington  Station  has  its  crocodile  story,  unfortunately 
Lukolela  has  one  also.  Whitehead  tells  it:  ‘In  1896  Bwala, 
one  of  the  boys  in  the  printing  office,  asked  permission  to  be 
away  a little  next  morning  to  fetch  his  wife  from  over  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  He  hired  a canoe,  and  was  making 


248  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1890-9 


his  way  along  the  river  near  the  shore,  when  a crocodile 
seized  him.  His  friends  hastened  to  the  spot,  but  all  that 
was  seen  was  the  canoe  floating  down  river  with  the  side 
knocked  in.  Thank  God,  we  believe  that  he  was  ready  for 
that  midnight  call.  His  last  act  on  earth  was  an  act  of 
forgiveness.  His  last  work  in  the  printing  ofhee  was  to  set 
up  a primer  for  a tribe  on  the  Kasai,  where  our  brethren  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  Mission  are  engaged.  His  poor  wife 
was  sent  for,  and  great  Avas  her  anguish.  “ I am  punished, 
I and  my  husband  ! ” she  cried.  He  died  on  the  way  to  fetch 
her,  that  was  the  meaning  of  her  cry.  She  came  right  up  to 
our  house,  and  the  poor  girl,  naked,  and  smeared  with  mud, 
threw  herself  down  in  despair.  She  would  not  be  comforted. 
It  is  their  custom  to  treat  their  bodies  so  when  near  relatives 
die  ; but  at  the  funeral  we  managed  to  get  her  to  rid  herself 
of  some  of  these  customs. 

‘ The  day  following,  in  the  early  morning,  I was  awakened 
by  a knock  at  my  bedroom  door ; when  I inquired  the  reason, 
with  much  sobbing,  several  of  his  friends  began  to  tell  me 
how  a woman  had  dreamt  that  Bwala  was  alive  on  the 
island  opposite,  and  described  the  place.  They  suggested 
that  we  might  take  the  boat  and  look ; so  they  took  the 
boat  and  borrowed  Clark’s  rifle.  I went  with  them  and 
steered  the  boat.  We  went  to  the  place  dreamt  of.  There 
were  marks  of  a crocodile  eating  his  prey  there  ; but  it  was 
impossible  to  land  on  account  of  the  jungle,  so  we  floated 
quietly  down  river  to  seek  a landing.  The  look-out  over  the 
wake  of  the  boat  cried  out  that  the  crocodile  was  over  there. 
We  turned  the  boat  and  fired,  and  swiftly  paddled  to  the 
place  again  ; but  the  beast  disappeared.  We  passed  over 
the  place  where  we  had  seen  it,  and  again  we  saw  it.  We 
approached  it  within  sixty  yards : bang  went  the  rifle,  and 
the  beast  was  wounded  ; a struggle,  it  di.sappeared ; some- 
thing, however,  floated.  What  was  it  ? We  went  quickly 
down,  and  with  choked  whispers  we  said,  “ It  is  Bwala.”  Some 
of  us  lifted  his  corpse,  minus  . three  limbs,  carefully  into  the 
boat,  while  others  looked  fonthe  wounded  crocodile,  and  there 
he  was.  We  wounded  him  again,  and  followed  the  beast 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  249 


to  a little  island,  six  miles  down  the  river,  where  he  could 
go  no  further.  Our  cartridges,  too,  were  spent.  We  tried 
with  spears  to  tackle  him,  but  could  not  get  at  him.  When 
we  dragged  him  out  of  his  hiding,  he  glared  at  our  fine  steel 
boat,  his  head  and  tail  lifted  up,  and  back  arched,  and  those 
protuberances  on  the  back  extended  like  so  many  iron  spikes. 
We  left  him  panting  his  last  on  the  sand,  and  returned  to 
a village,  from  whence  we  sent  a messenger  overland  for  more 
cartridges.  The  natives  then  took  the  boat  for  the  beast,  to 
bring  him  to  the  station.  I returned  with  the  body  of  Bwala 
to  the  station,  and  we  prepared  it  for  burial.  At  two  o’clock 
the  boat  returned  with  the  crocodile  dead.  It  measured 
17  ft.  6 in.  in  length.  We  recovered  from  its  stomach  the 
anklet  of  a woman  who  had  been  killed  by  the  beast  four 
years  previously,  and  also  the  anklet  of  a man  who  was  seized 
in  a near  part  of  the  river  two  years  before.  The  Bangalas 
at  the  State  camp,  and  several  people  from  the  villages,  shared 
the  beast’s  flesh.’ 

In  1891  Mr.  Josiah  Wade,  of  Halifax,  presented  the  mission 
with  a very  complete  printing-press  and  plant.  It  was  set  up 
at  Lukolela  in  Scrivener’s  charge,  and  while  there  did  good 
work.  In  1895  the  population  of  Lukolela  had  dwindled 
to  200  only  on  our  side  of  the  river.  There  seemed  to  be 
no  prospect  of  improvement,  so  it  was  decided  to  reduce 
the  staff,  transferring  it  to  Bolobo.  Accordingly  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Scrivener  removed  to  Bolobo,  and  when  Clark  returned 
from  his  furlough  with  his  wife  in  1896,  he  also  made  Bolobo 
his  home.  Whitehead  remained  behind,  busy  with  the  pre- 
paration of  his  Dictionary  and  Grammar  of  the  language.  He 
took  his  furlough  in  1898,  and  completed  the  work  at  home 
in  1899.  It  has  now  been  published,  and  Whitehead  has 
returned  to  Lukolela.  It  is  too  early  yet  for  a decision  to 
be  taken  as  to  the  future  of  the  station  ; it  has  been  suggested 
that  a training  school  for  evangelists  should  be  carried  on 
there,  or  that  the  work  be  shifted  into  the  interior.  We  shall 
see  as  time  goes  on. 

While  Whitehead  was  in  England,  the  station  was  left 
in  charge  of  Lusala  Kavundi,  a young  man  from  the  neigh- 

VOL.  II.  R 


IIIK  CKOCODII.K  WHICH  ATIi  HWAI.A  {page  24S 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  251 


bourhood  of  Underhill.  He  was  at  first  a personal  servant 
of  Scrivener,  and  accompanied  him  to  England  in  1888. 
When  Scrivener  was  transferred  from  Underhill  to  Lukolela 
in  1889,  Lusala  went  with  him,  and  soon  picked  up  Lo- 
bobangi.  He  had  been  baptized  at  Underhill,  and  entered 
earnestly  into  Christian  work  in  his  new  home.  He  was  most 
useful  in  the  general  work  of  the  station.  During  the  absence 
of  Whitehead,  Lusala  has  carried  on  the  work  well,  and 
exercised  a great  • in- 
fluence for  good  over 
the  people.  Scrivener 
visited  Lukolela  in  the 
end  of  1898,  and  found 
eight  or  nine  who  vv'ere 
anxious  for  baptism  ; of 
those  he  recommended 
four  to  the  Church,  the 
others  were  to  have  a 
little  longer  probation. 

On  January  3, 1892,  a 
littleChurch  was  formed 
at  Lukolela,  and  some 
slow  but  sure  progress 
has  been  made.  Since 
the  printing-press  was 
shifted  to  Bolobo,  and 
the  staff  reduced  in  con- 
sequence, the  num-bers  lusala  kavundi 

of  the  Church  have  been 

reduced  ; but  some  of  the  actual  natives  of  the  place,  men  and 
women,  are  now  trusting  in  Jesus,  and  living  Christian  lives, 
letting  their  light  shine  before  their  fellows,  to  the  glory  of 
God.  One ^ of  their  number,  Embuma,  was  Darby’s  helper 
in  the  study  of  the  language  in  the  early  days.  His  subse- 
quent career  was  not  distinguished  by  honesty.  His  wife, 
Maulu,  gained  some  repute  as  a sort  of  fetish  dancer.  But 
these  are  now  numbered  amongst  the  trophies  of  our  Saviour’s 
power  to  save  and  to  regenerate.  Embuma  has  been  active 

R 2 


252  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lSOO-9 

in  evangelistic  work,  especially  on  the  French  side  of  the 
river  ; but  the  French  officials,  fearing  that  our  influence  would 
mean  the  return  of  the  people  to  our  side  of  the  river,  in 


‘al  fresco’  school,  lukolela 

the  territory  of  the  Free  State,  forbade  his  visiting  the 
towns  ; on  one  occasion  he  was  rather  badly  used  by  a white 
man,  who,  we  suppose,  was  more  or  less  intoxicated. 

In  the  little  native  town  remaining,  Lusala  used  to  conduct 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1S90-9  253 


school  before  the  house  of  a man  named  Bokakola.  In  1897 
he  shifted  his  house  away — for  native  houses  are  portable — 
and  built  on  the  site  a neat  wattle  and  daub  house,  and 
dedicated  it  to  the  service  of  God.  It  is  the  best  house  in 
the  district.  Services  have  from  that  time  been  held  in  it 
every  night,  which  are  conducted  by  Lusala  and  other 
members  of  the  native  Church  in  turn. 

There  has  been  much  sickness  and  death  in  the  district, 
but  the  Gospel  seems  to  be  touching  many  of  those  who  are 
left,  and  inquiry  concerning  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  may 
be  heard  of  in  strange  places.  The  peace  which  passeth 
all  understanding,  which  has  been  the  very  evident  possession 
of  some  of  the  converts  on  nearing  the  silence  of  the  grave, 
has  made  some  think  on  these  things.  The  public  opinion 
of  the  Bobangi  tribe  at  Lukolela  is  being  somewhat  modified 
by  the  preaching  and  acceptance  of  Gospel  teaching — many 
evil  habits  have  sunk  in  the  public  estimation.  And  if  we 
take  an  inteiwal  of  a few  years,  the  better  state  of  public 
opinion  is  very  clearly  evident  to  any  thoughtful  observer. 

The  little  Church  numbered  eleven  members  in  the  end 
of  1898. 

This  is  not  the  story  of  a failure  ; it  is  a disappointment, 
it  is  true,  but  it  is  the  story  of  the  commencement  of  a good 
work  in  the  district.  Whatever  changes  may  come,  the  place 
will  not  be  altogether  abandoned.  If  Whitehead  is  trans- 
ferred to  another  station,  it  still  must  be  a centre  of  evangelistic 
work,  under  Lusala  or  some  other  native  evangelist. 

Monsembe  Station. 

Bolobo  and  Lukolela  stations  are  both  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  river,  our  other  stations  higher  up  are  on  the  right 
bank.  Monsembe  Station  is  about  200  miles  above  Lukolela, 
and  500  miles  above  Stanley  Pool.  From  the  Bangala  station 
of  the  Congo  State  (Nouvelle  Anvers)  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mobangi  river  stretch  200  miles  of  low  land — very  low,  for 
it  is  all  liable  to  inundation : in  this  district  the  Monsembe 
Station  is  built.  The  highest  land  that  could  be  found  was 


254  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


chosen,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  flood  waters  would  never 
reach  it.  The  foundation  of  the  station  dates  from  August, 
1890.  Three  native  houses  were  bought  from  the  people, 
and  they  served  for  a few  weeks  while  the  other  buildings 
were  set  up.  During  the  first  six  or  seven  weeks,  Weeks  and 
Stapleton  built  a large  house,  50  x 20  feet,  of  mat  and  bamboo 
walls ; the  roof  being  covered  with  mats  made  from  palm 
frondlets.  It  contained  two  bedrooms,  a sitting-room,  and 
a store.  In  front  was  a broad  open  porch  to  which  the 
natives  had  access,  and  in  which  they  could  sit  and  talk  with 
their  new  white  men. 

The  people  were  very  disappointed  when  they  found  that 
the  missionaries  would  not  buy  ivory  and  slaves.  During 
the  first  week  or  two  they  brought  many  tusks  to  sell,  only 
to  take  them  away  ; they  doubted  the  white  men’s  sanity  for 
refusing  to  buy  them.  When  they  refused  to  buy  slaves,  they 
put  them  down  as  quite  demented. 

Stapleton  wrote  ten  months  later:  ‘In  choosing  Monsembe 
as  the  site  of  our  station  we  undertook  the  evangelization 
of  the  dreaded  Bangala  tribes.  These  people  have  long  been 
the  terror  of  the  river.  Any  blood-curdling  story  is  readily 
believed  of  these  warlike  people.  Slaving  and  raiding  are 
regarded  as  their  favourite  occupations,  and  it  is  always 
asserted  that  any  victims  killed  and  carried  off  are  eaten 
by  their  captors.  The  people  of  Bopoto  are  spoken  of  as 
“ fishermen,”  the  Bobangi  as  “ traders,”  the  Bangalas  as 
“ cannibals.”  Since  our  settlement  here,  wars  and  rumours  of 
wars  have  been  the  orders  of  the  day,  and  we  were  told 
that  cannibalism  was  practised  in  a near  town.  We  have 
just  had  an  example  of  their  ferocity,  and  have  seen  enough 
to  convince  us  that  they  are  veritable  cannibals. 

‘ Our  station  is  situated  at  the  upper  end  of  the  town  of 
Bongindu,  just  above  us  is  the  town  of  Mampoko,  and  some 
mile  or  so  beyond  this  are  a number  of  towns  on  a creek ; 
these  are  named  Upper  Monsembe.  A few  evenings  since 
the  old  chief  at  Mampoko  went  through  the  town  beating 
a gong,  announcing  that  the  people  of  the  creek  towns  would 
attack  Mampoko  in  the  morning.  About  6.30  a.m.  the 


HIGH  STREKT,  MONSEMBE 


256  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9 


invaders  commenced  the  attack.  A few  guns  were  fired,  then 
we  heard  the  shouting  of  the  men  as  they  came  to  close  quar- 
ters, and,  louder  than  all,  the  rolling  of  the  drums  sounding 
the  alarm  to  the  towns  below.  In  a few  minutes  a long  line 
of  warriors,  in  all  the  glory  of  their  war-paint  and  feathers, 
rushed  pell-mell  through  the  station  to  reinforce  the  men 
of  Mampoko.  At  first  the  fight  went  hardly  with  the 
defenders,  and  in  a short  time  four  wounded  men  came  into 
the  station,  bringing  the  news  that  two  others  had  been  killed. 
A group  of  women  had  gathered  near  our  house  waiting 
for  tidings  of  the  fight.  The  power  these  women  possess 
of  exhibiting  emotion,  and  of  passing  rapidly  from  one  mood 
to  its  opposite,  is  very  remarkable.  Their  impressive  gestures 
and  dramatic  action  make  it  difficult  to  believe  that  these 
are  altogether  unstudied. 

‘ Whilst  we  were  dressing  the  wounds  of  the  men,  we 
witnessed  a characteristic  display  of  their  ability  to  enact 
tragedy.  Soon  the  tidings  reached  us  that  the  enemy  were 
in  full  retreat,  having  lost  two  men,  one  of  whom  they  were 
unable  to  carry  off.  Immediately  the  scene  was  changed  ; 
tragedy  gave  place  to  comedy,  wailing  to  a paean  of  triumph. 
Now  the  women  danced  in  high  glee,  and  were  as  energetic 
in  their  manifestations  of  delight  as  before  they  were  over- 
whelmed with  grief.  At  this  time  a storm  gathered,  and  the 
rain  fell  in  pitiless  torrents  ; we  had  strong  hopes  that  the 
fight  would  be  stopped.  But  fresh  warriors  still  poured  in, 
all  eager  for  the  fray.  The  retreating  foe  was  followed  up, 
and  Upper  Monsembe  raided.  At  about  twelve  o’clock  a long 
procession  of  men  marched  through  the  station  laden  with 
spoil.  Fifty  men  carried  as  many  goats,  most  of  which  had 
been  speared  ; others,  less  fortunate,  brought  away  fish-nets, 
stools,  and  plantain. 

‘ Whilst  this  was  proceeding,  as  a kind  of  introduction  to 
what  would  follow,  two  men  passed,  one  carrying  a human 
neck  poised  aloft  upon  a spear,  the  other  an  arm  ; both  had 
been  lopped  off  an  unfortunate  man  who  had  been  killed  and 
left  on  the  field.  Later  on  we  were  horrified  by  a more 
ghastly  sight.  A party  of  warriors  returned,  who  had  joined 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  257 


somewhat  late  in  the  chase.  They  marched  in  single  file  past 
our  house.  In  the  middle  of  the  line  three  men  bore  the 
remaining  parts  of  the  mutilated  body.  One  carried  the  still 
bleeding  trunk  ; he  had  slung  the  other  arm  through  a large 
wound  in  the  abdomen,  and  suspended  on  this  the  ghastly 
burden  swung  at  his  side : two  others  shouldered  the  legs. 
It  was  a sickening  sight,  the  more  so  as  we  were  assured  that 
these  would  be  cooked  and  eaten  in  the  evening.  Needless 
to  say,  we  did  not  visit  the  scene  of  the  feast.  A few  of  the 
young  men  from  the  town  went  down  for  a share,  but  were 
too  late,  the  flesh  had  been  eaten ; however,  they  were 
generously  invited  to  partake  of  the  vegetables  still  remaining 
in  the  water  in  which  it  had  been  boiled.  Both  Weeks  and 
myself  found  it  difficult  to  eat  our  evening  meal,  and  you  will 
hardly  wonder  that  in  our  dreams  for  a few  nights,  men 
carrying  mutilated  limbs  were  the  chief  figures,  and  that 
these  limbs  were  sometimes  our  own.  We  shall  not  soon 
forget  the  sight. 

‘ Two  days  after,  a lad  walked  into  the  station  carrying  in 
a plantain  leaf  some  of  the  flesh  that  had  been  roasted,  and  one 
of  our  workmen  eagerly  joined  him  in  disposing  of  the  dainty 
morsels.  This  cooked  flesh  we  saw.  The  day  following  the 
attack,  our  people  again  visited  the  creek  towns  which  had 
been  left  to  their  mercy.  So  hastily  had.  the  inhabitants  fled, 
that  a sick  woman  was  left  in  one  of  the  houses.  She  was 
discovered,  and  some  of  the  doughty  warriors  recounted,  with 
much  glee  and  mock  imitation  of  her  agonies,  how  they  had 
burned  her  to  death  in  the  house.  All  the  houses  were  fired, 
the  plantains  cut  down,  and  the  towns  left  in  ruins  ; this,  with 
one  man  killed  in  the  bush,  completed  the  second  day’s  work. 
For  the  next  fortnight  our  people  were  under  arms  night 
and  day,  expecting  that  their  opponents  would  return  to  the 
attack  in  sheer  desperation.  Mampoko  was  abandoned  at 
night,  and  a barricade  built  across  the  path  near  our  station. 
All  the  women  and  those  men  not  told  off  for  sentry  duty 
slept  below  the  station,  and  some  slept  in  the  station  itself. 

‘ During  this  time  we  have  been  subjected  to  much  scorn. 
Men,  in  passing,  would  taunt  us  on  our  refusal  to  fight.  They 


258  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9 


say  that  if  peoiDle  came  to  attack  us,  they  would  rally  to  our 
defence,  and  that  we  ought  as  readily  to  help  them  to  defend 
their  homes.  They  also  urge  that  were  they  defeated,  our 
house  would  be  burned  with  theirs.  Of  course  we  could  not 
share  in  the  fight,  though  we  stood  ready  to  defend  our 
house,  and  the  workmen  for  whose  safety  we  feel  responsible. 
We  bore  their  scorn  patiently,  and  meanwhile  helped  the 
wounded,  gave  shelter  to  those  who  asked  it,  and  told  them 
that  we  are  friends  not  only  of  the  people  who  live  near,  but 
of  all  the  people  in  the  other  towns,  too. 

‘ One  of  the  men  killed  at  Mampoko  was  a slave  of  the 
chief.  He  had  worked  for  us  for  some  three  months,  and  but 
the  evening  before  the  fight  was  engaged  on  the  station. 
In  the  morning  he  is  killed,  and  in  an  hour  or  two  tossed  into 
a grave,  “unwept,  unhonoured,  and  unsung.”  The  people 
wanted  to  eat  him,  and  would  have  done  so,  but  his  master 
refused  to  cut  off  his  head,  a necessary  preliminary  to  the 
feast.  Another  man  comes  to  the  fight  in  full  vigour : in 
twelve  hours  his  body  is  cooked  and  eaten  ; whilst  to  burn 
alive  a poor,  sick,  deserted  woman  is  regarded  as  a huge  joke. 
Yet,  usually,  these  Bangalas  are  merry,  manly  fellows,  very 
friendly  in  conversation,  and  quite  demonstrative  in  their 
affection  ; but  when  the  lust  of  blood  is  upon  them,  deeds 
which  fill  us  with  horror  are  the  merest  incidents  of  the  fight 
to  them.’ 

There  were  other  opportunities  later  on  of  witnessing  their 
wild,  cruel,  cannibal  ways.  Now,  however,  the  people  know 
that  the  State  has  promulgated  a law  against  cannibalism, 
and  the  practice  has  disappeared  in  those  parts  of  the  district 
in  which  the  power  of  the  State  is  felt.  Where  no  such  fear 
hangs  over  the  people,  the  old  ways  can,  of  course,  go  on 
unchecked. 

Slowly  the  influence  of  the  mission  began  to  tell  on  the 
people.  Weeks,  writing  in  August,  1892,  shows  how  the 
influence  was  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  and  its  result. 

‘ Some  few  nights  ago,  we  were  startled  by  the  loud  wailing 
of  numerous  women.  On  going  to  the  door,  we  heard  that 
Mokobi  (a  headman  of  this  town)  had  died  at  Bolombo,  and 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-0  259 


his  body  had  just  arrived.  What  a frightful,  heartrending 
wail  it  was  that  met  our  ears ; a wail  of  hopeless  despair  and 
sorrow  that  touched  our  hearts,  and  made  us  long  to  comfort 
the  weepers ! The  mourners  came  from  the  neighbouring 
towns,  and  in  the  distant  darkness  we  could  hear  their  sad, 
dirge-like  cry.  As  they  passed  us  they  swayed  to  and  fro  with 
apparent  grief ; the  nearer  the  relationship  to  the  deceased, 
the  more  excessive  was  the  grief  exhibited. 

‘ This  spectacle  of  sorrow  would  have  been  touching  to  the 
last  degree,  but  for  the  fact  that  there  were  not  half  a dozen 
of  that  grieving,  tearless  crowd,  who  would  have  given  five 
brass  rods  to  have  saved  the  dead  man’s  life  without  a hope 
of  gaining  ten  rods  in  return.  What,  then,  was  the  reason  for 
such  an  ostentatious  exhibition  of  grief?  It  was  to  avoid  the 
charge  of  witchcraft.  If  any  one  had  accused  one  of  them  of 
bewitching  the  deceased,  she  would  have  said,  “ I bewitch 
him  ! why,  look  how  I cry  night  and  day  for  him.  I would 
not  do  that  if  I had  bewitched  him.”  I think  that  in  the  case 
of  Mokobi  he  had  one  real  mourner  in  his  senior  wife — the 
mother  of  his  two  children.  Stripped,  but  for  some  leaves, 
her  body  plastered  with  mud,  she  would  wander  about  the 
town,  carrying  his  looking-glass  and  spear,  searching  here  and 
there  for  her  husband,  muttering  to  herself,  “Ah ! he  has  gone 
to  Mopoko ; I will  look  for  him  there  ” ; and  off  she  would 
start  to  visit  some  of  the  places  which  he  mostly  frequented 
when  alive,  only  to  return  to  the  corpse  of  her  husband,  and 
grovel  in  the  dirt  beside  it. 

‘On  the  night  the  body  arrived,  Ernest  Hughes  went  and 
mingled  in  the  crowd.  While  there  he  heard  from  one  of  our 
workmen  that  the  people  were  going  to  kill  two  of  the  dead 
man’s  wives  and  bury  them  with  him.  Hughes,  seeing  them 
dragging  away  one  woman,  came  and  told  me,  and  together 
we  returned  to  the  excited  mob.  I expostulated  with  them 
on  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  killing  the  wives  because  the 
husband  had  died,  and  emphasized  the  fact  that,  in  a recent 
affair  with  the  State,  I was  able  to  help  them  considerably ; 
but  if  they  killed  these  women  now,  I would  not  help  them  in 
future  affairs  they  may  have  with  the  State.  They  assured 


26o  progress  on  the  UPPER  RIPER:  1890-9 

me  they  did  not  intend  to  kill  any  one,  but  were  “ only  tying 
the  wives  to  prevent  their  escape.”  After  much  talking  it 
was  arranged  that  I should  be  present  at  the  digging  of  the 
grave,  and  also  at  the  burial. 

‘ When  the  time  arrived  they  called  me.  I found  that  they 
had  taken  the  front  of  a house  out,  and  had  raised  the  roof. 
In  the  middle  of  the  house  they  dug  the  grave — about  three 
feet  deep  ; then  bringing  the  body  from  another  house,  they 
placed  it  on  the  ground.  The  women  sang  a dirge,  while  the 
men  formed  a large  circle  round  the  body.  It  seems  that  the 


six  in  open  fight,  while 

quarrelling  with  neighbouring  towns,  and  one,  his  own 
slave,  he  killed  in  anger.  The  skull  of  this  unfortunate 
slave  was  sticking  in  the  ground  at  my  feet.  Each  one 
of  these  seven  men  was  called  upon  by  name  to  attend 
the  deceased.  Seven  thrusts  wei'e  made  in  the  air  with 
a spear,  and  then  the  body  was  carried  away  to  the 
grave. 

‘ It  is  the  custom,  when  a head-man  dies,  to  bury  one  or 
two  wives  with  him,  and  to  kill  one  slave,  whose  head  is 
placed  as  a pillow  for  his  master’s  head,  the  body  being 
thrown  into  the  river,  so  they  say ; but  I think  it  more 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIPER:  1890-^9  261 


probable  that  it  is  used  to  furnish  a feast  for  the  assembled 
mourners. 

‘ On  this  occasion,  however,  no  victim  was  sacrificed  to  this 
horrible  custom.  As  I knew  the  exact  number  of  the  wives 
and  slaves  of  the  deceased  man,  these  were  all  shown  to  me, 
with  the  exception  of  one  little  slave  girl,  who  they  said 
had  run  away.  They  promised  to  bring  her  next  day,  which 
they  did.  Again,  to  sKow  me  they  had  not  killed  any  one, 
they  exposed  the  body,  that  I might  see  that  there  was  no 
victim  hid  in  the  mats  that  covered  the  corpse.  Then  the 
body  was  lowered  into  the  grave.  Personal  friends  carried 
the  feet,  while  some  of  the  wives  supported  the  head.  The 
mats  were  thrown  back,  exhibiting  the  fine  cloths  in  which 
the  body  was  dressed.  The  favourite  spear,  the  looking-glass, 
and  several  other  things  were  placed  in  the  grave.  No  sooner 
was  the  dirt  piled  up  than  the  drums  were  beaten,  and  men 
and  women,  boys  and  girls,  laughingly  commenced  a dance, 
which  was  carried  on  far  into  the  night. 

‘ I cannot  help  contrasting  the  spirit  exhibited  during  this 
affair  and  that  shown  about  two  years  ago.  We  had  not  been 
here  many  weeks  when  I heard  that  a woman  was  being 
killed  in  the  town.  I instantly  left  off  building,  and  went  to 
the  place.  There  I saw  a woman,  with  her  arms  securely 
tied  and  pegged  to  the  ground.  Through  an  interpreter,  I 
asked  the  husband,  ‘'Do  you  intend  to  kill  that  woman?” 
“Yes,”  he  said,  “we  were  about  to  kill  her,  but  somebody  is 
going  to  buy  her.”  Then  turning  to  me  the  old  man  said,  in 
an  angry  and  defiant  tone,  “ It  is  not  your  business ! Have 
you  brought  guns  and  soldiers  with  you  ? Do  you  want  to 
fight  us?  If  not,  go  back  to  your  house  and  leave  our 
palavers  alone.  She  is  my  wife ; I can  kill  her  or  sell,  just 
as  I like.” 

‘ During  the  two  years  we  have  lived  here  we  have  been 
engaged  in  building  our  houses,  making  our  farms,  teaching 
our  schools  of  boys  and  girls,  and  above  all,  in  reducing 
this  language  to  writing.  This  last  has  been  made  very 
difficult,  because,  for  a long  time,  the  people  purposely  led 
us  astray,  giving  us  wrong  words  and  phrases,  and  roundly 


262  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


abusing  those  who  would  occasionally  give  us  the  right  words. 
By  our  honest  and  truthful  dealings  with  them  we  have  won 
their  confidence,  and  have  also  gained  some  influence  over 
them.  Sitting  on  a stool  just  against  me  now  is  one  who, 
eighteen  months  ago,  threatened  to  kill  us,  and  who,  for 
a long  time,  was  foremost  in  abusing  those  who  helped  us 
with  the  language.  His  opposition  is  finished,  for  he  has 
been  explaining  some  words  to  me.  May  the  day  soon  come 
when  these  Bangalas  will  be  as  fearless  in  the  proclamation  of 
the  Saviour  of  men  as  they  are  now  reckless  in  the  destruction 
of  life ! ’ 

Stapleton,  three  years  later,  tells  a story  which  shows  the 
superstitious  character  of  the  people.  ‘ One  of  the  most  curious 
superstitions  of  this  people,  the  one  which  has  perhaps  the 
strongest  grip  on  the  public  mind,  is  the  notion  that  any  man 
of  importance  who  dies,  leaves  behind  him  an  animal  which 
has  the  power  to  plague  the  townsfolk.  The  relatives  of  the 
dead  man  are  held  responsible  for  the  havoc  wrought  by  the 
animal,  and  often  seek  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  injured 
ones  by  calling  in  a witch-doctor  to  kill  it.  These  animals 
have,  however,  a greater  number  of  lives  than  the  proverbial 
cat,  and  though  often  they  be  killed,  again  and  again  they  rise 
to  torment  and  destroy.  A family  whose  ancestor’s  animal 
was  supposed  to  have  caused  considerable  sickness  in  the 
town  lately,  called  in  a witch-doctor  to  slaughter  the  beast. 
He  came,  arrayed  as  usual  in  his  paint  and  feathers.  A tem- 
porary shelter  was  put  up,  into  which  he  crept  to  carry  on  his 
work  unobserved.  A string  was  stretched  across  from  the  top 
of  this  shelter  to  the  nearest  tree,  and  adorned  with  ribbons  of 
grass  and  small  bells,  which  the  doctor  shook  and  jingled 
in  rhythm  with  his  incantation.  The  people  immediately 
concerned  gathered  in  a circle  outside,  three  of  them  keeping 
up  an  incessant  drumming  on  as  many  drums.  The  witch- 
doctor informed  the  people  that  the  animal  had  chosen  a near 
house  for  his  abode,  and  no  one  but  himself  must  enter  this 
house,  or  death  to  the  intruder  would  ensue — an  unnecessary 
warning,  as  the  people’s  fear  of  the  animal  is  very  great.  The 
drums  were  beaten  without  cessation  day  and  night. 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1S90-9  263 


‘ On  the  eve  of  the  third  day  the  doctor  announced  that  the 
time  had  now  come,  and  that  he  would  kill  this  animal. 
Hearing  this,  several  of  the  town  boys  who  come  to  school 
gathered  about  the  house.  Shouting  as  if  possessed,  the 
doctor  burst  out  of  his  shelter,  rushed  into  the  house,  and 
came  out  quickly,  holding  in  his  two  hands  some  object 
dripping  with  blood,  hastily  wrapped  in  a plantain  leaf. 
Generally  this  is  the  signal  for  a stampede,  and  the  doctor 
rushes  off  in  triumph  to  bury  the  head.  On  this  occasion, 
however,  our  schoolboys  demanded  that  the  head  should  be 
put  down  on  the  ground  for  their  examination,  declaring  their 
belief  that  it  was  simply  the  head  of  a big  fish  of  a common 
kind.  Hearing  the  shouting,  I ran  along  just  in  time  to  see 
the  doctor  running  breathlessly  away  from  a crowd  of  boys 
and  young  men,  who  were  endeavouring  to  stop  him  from 
casting  this  head  into  the  river  until  they  had  seen  it.  He 
got  away  from  them,  however,  and  rushing  into  deep  water 
rid  himself  of  this  deeply  suspected  trophy  of  his  power.  As 
he  hurried  from  the  spot  he  could  not  fail  to  hear  the  lads’ 
loudly  expressed  opinion  that  the  whole  thing  was  a cheat. 
It  is  the  beginning  of  the  end. 

‘ Perhaps  the  most  striking  feature  of  this  demonstration  on 
the  part  of  the  lads  is  the  fact  that  they  are  not  lads  working 
on  the  station,  who  can  claim  our  protection,  but  live  in  the 
towns  with  their  friends,  simply  coming  to  us  for  teaching  in 
the  day-school  and  the  services.  God  grant  that,  as  these 
delusions  flee,  Christ  may  win  the  faith  of  these  awakening 
souls ! ’ 

The  language  of  the  Bangala  has  many  affinities  with  that 
of  the  Bobangi.  It  was  hoped  that  the  Bobangi  literature 
would  serve  among  the  Bangala.  This,  however,  has  been 
found  to  be  impossible.  One  difficulty  especially  may  be 
instanced  ; the  formative  prefix  of  the  recent  past  tense  in 
Lo-bobangi  is  one  of  the  negative  forms  among  the  Bangala  ; 
so  that  what  in  one  language  would  mean  / have  found, 
would  mean  in  the  have  not  found.  The  differences 

in  the  vocabulary  are  also  so  great  that  another  literature 
must  be  created  for  the  Bangala  also.  Already  the  Gospels 


264  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  W50-.9 


have  been  translated  into  Bangala,  and  have  been  printed  by 
the  Bolobo  Press  ; the  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke 
by  Weeks,  those  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  John  by  Stapleton. 
There  is  also  a hymn-book,  books  of  New  Testament  stories 
by  Weeks,  and  OldTestament  stories  by  Stapleton.  AGrammar 
and  Dictionary  of  this  widely  spoken  Boloki  language  is  being 
prepared  for  the  press. 

School  work  has  been  well  pushed,  and  a large  number  of 
these  quondam  cannibals  can  read.  Two  outpost  schools  have 
also  been  started,  and  maintained  by  advanced  scholars. 
School  work  has  thriven  from  the  first,  boys  and  girls  coming 
in  equal  numbers,  about  sixty  of  each  are  in  regular  attendance. 
Mrs.  Weeks  and  Mrs.  Stapleton  have  been  indefatigable  in 
work  upon  the  women  and  girls.  Itineration  in  the  district  is 
carried  on  by  means  of  the  steel  boat  Derby,  which  has  added 
much  to  the  effective  service  of  the  mission  there. 

So  the  work  has  been  carried  on,  and  already  a blessing  has 
come  upon  it.  On  January  5,  1895,  the  first  four  converts 
were  baptized  ; Salamo,  a girl  from  near  to  the  Stanley  Falls, 
and  three  Bangala  lads.  Salamo’s  town  was  raided  by  the 
Arabs  at  Stanley  Falls.  They  fired  the  houses,  killed  the 
men,  and  captured  the  women  and  children.  The  Arabs  gave 
Salamo  to  a trader,  and  he  handed  her  over  to  a State  officer, 
who  handed  her  over  to  Mrs.  Darby.  So  she  came  to  the 
mission.  When  Mrs.  Darby  went  home,  Mrs.  Stapleton  took 
charge  of  her,  and  under  her  influence  and  training  she  was 
brought  to  the  Saviour.  We  must  tell  more  of  Salamo  later 
on,  but  this  part  of  Salamo’s  story  must  be  fitted  into  its 
proper  place.  When  Mrs.  Stapleton  returned  to  England  on 
furlough,  she  took  Salamo  with  her.  She  has  been  most  devoted 
in  her  service. 

Good  numbers  of  the  natives  are  gathering  to  the  Sunday 
services,  and  there  are  many  things  to  encourage  ; but  the 
present  is  the  seedtime,  and  diligently  is  the  seed  being 
sown.  Manjete,  a large  town  four  miles  inland,  accords 
a hearty  reception  to  the  missionaries  when  they  visit  it, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  confidence  of  the  inland  people 
will,  by  means  of  this  town,  be  won. 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9  265 


The  lowness  of  the  land  about  Monsembe  has  already  been 
referred  to.  It  was  hoped  that  the  site  of  the  station  was 
above  flood  level,  and  so  it  was  for  seven  years  ; but  in  the 
eighth  the  waters  of  the  river  rose  and  rose,  until  the  towns 
were  flooded,  and  the  people  had  to  live  in  their  canoes. 
Still  it  rose,  until  the  whole  station  was  deep  in  water.  The 
houses  had  been  built  on  wooden  pillars,  so  that  they  were 
a little  above  the  water.  This  great  flood,  which  covered 
many  hundreds  of  square  miles,  did  great  damage  to  the 


MONSEMBE  STATION  IN  FLOOD 


native  plantations  ; it  continued  so  long  that  the  cassava  rotted 
in  the  ground.  The  natives  went  about  in  their  canoes,  and 
pulled  a great  deal  of  it  up  to  save  it,  but  the  flood  was  most 
destructive. 

Next  year,  at  the  same  time,  the  same  thing  happened, 
but  we  may  well  hope  that  these  years  of  abnormal  flood  will 
not  often  occur.  Anyhow  the  people  are  there  in  great 
numbers,  and  they  must  be  evangelized  ; there  is  no  reason 
to  shift  the  station  ; provision  must  be  made  for  such 
emergencies,  and  the  work  go  on  notwithstanding.  Monsembe 

VOL.  II.  S 


266  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


is  a station  of  great  possibilities,  and  we  may  well  hope  and 
expect  that  large  numbers  of  these  wild  people  will  be  brought 
to  the  feet  of  Christ. 


Bopoto  Station. 

The  station  of  Bopoto  (or  Bofoto,  or  Upoto)  is  200  miles 
above  Monsembe.  The  riverine  people  belong  to  a series  of 
colonies  of  Bangala  people  who  have  pushed  east  to  the 
Bopoto  hills.  They  preserve  traditions  of  their  coming, 
although  there  remains  no  clue  as  to  the  cause  of  their 
pushing  so  far  afield.  This  tribe,  like  the  Bobangi,  domi- 
nates the  banks  of  the  Congo  for  a distance  of  more  than  300 
miles.  Passing  up  the  river  from  Stanley  Pool  there  are 
100  miles  of  sparse  towns  of  people  of  the  Bateke  type ; then 
300  miles  of  Bobangi ; and  afterwards  300  miles  of  Bangala, 
but  only  in  the  form  of  colonists  living  on  the  river  banks. 
The  inland  people  of  Bopoto  are  very  different  in  language, 
are  often  at  war  with  the  Bangala,  and  never  allow  them  to 
go  any  distance  inland.  For  instance,  the  Bopoto-Bangala 
were  not  allowed  to  go  fifty  yards  behind  their  narrow  strip 
of  houses  on  the  beach.  To  break  the  rule  meant  death  by 
the  spear  of  any  one  who  happened  to  see  him.  They  were 
not  allowed  even  to  gather  their  firewood  on  shore.  They 
might  buy  it  from  the  inland  women  at  the  daily  market  on 
the  mission  beach  ; but  if  they  wanted  to  gather  for  themselves, 
they  had  to  go  to  Emanga,  or  one  of  the  other  islands.  The 
ground  landlords  about  Bopoto  belong  to  a large  tribe  found 
inland  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  The  inland  district  is  known 
as  Ngombe,  and  the  people  are  Moya.  On  the  south  bank, 
opposite  Bopoto,  the  inland  folk  are  called  Ngunji,  and  call 
themselves  Ngungulu-ngulu. 

Bopoto  occupies  an  excellent  situation.  In  ascending  the 
river  from  Stanley  Pool,  hills  line  the  shores  for  240  miles ; 
thence  not  a hill  is  to  be  seen  for  460  miles.  Over  the  whole 
of  that  stretch  the  low  banks  are  fringed  with  forest,  with  here 
and  there  a glade.  From  100  to  30  miles  below  Bopoto  there 
stretch  seventy  miles  of  dreary  uninhabited  swamp  forest.  In 


HANGALA  VILLAGE,  BOl’OTO 


268  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISdO-U 


this  region  the  water  of  the  Congo,  in  high  flood,  flows  over 
the  land  away  to  the  south,  and  into  the  Lulongo  river. 
Swamp,  swamp,  everywhere.  But  at  Bopoto  all  this  changes  ; 
a fine  range  of  hills,  rising  to  200  or  300  feet  above  the  water, 
comes  down  from  the  north  to  the  river.  The  river  above 
and  below  Bopoto  is  very  wide,  reaching  out  to  as  much  as 
twelve  miles  in  one  part,  but  at  Bopoto  it  narrows  down  to 
six  miles  in  width. 

The  station  is  built  on  a terrace  on  the  steep  slopes  of  the 
hill,  200  yards  back  from  the  water.  Immediately  beloAv 
the  station,  and  on  either  side  of  the  mission  beach,  stretches 
a long  series  of  village  quadrangles  ; each  is  composed  of  two 
long  terraces  of  low  grass  huts  ; the  upper  end  is  closed 
by  a shorter  row  of  huts,  and  the  lower  end  toward  the  river 
is  open.  There  is  of  course  a strategic  purpose  in  so  building. 
Quarrels  and  fights  are  of  frequent  occurrence  ; but  these  long 
narrow  quadrangles  are  easily  defended  at  their  open  end. 
On  the  same  level  as  the  mission  buildings,  on  either  side 
of  the  property,  and  again  higher  up,  are  other  lines  of  villages, 
closely  packed  together.  The  lower  line  of  houses  constitutes 
the  home  of  the  Bopoto-Bangala  ; the  upper  lines  are  the 
villages  of  the  Moya  people.  Between  these  two  peoples 
a modus  vivendi  has  been  found,  and  the  disputes  and  fighting, 
which  are  inevitable,  are  fewer  than  one  might  expect.  The 
Bangala  people  are  great  fishermen  ; they  make  their  living 
on  the  river,  catching  and  dr^dng  their  fish,  and  selling  it 
to  the  Moya  people,  who  are  agriculturists.  In  this  way 
they  depend  on  each  other.  A quarrel  with  the  Moya  means 
no  bread  stuff ; a quarrel  with  the  Bangala  means  dry  bread  ; * 
the  Bangala  then  are  tolerated  as  useful  members  of  the 
community,  and  their  violence  is  tempered  by  the  reflection 
that  a combination  of  the  Moya  would  clear  them  out  in 
no  time  ; so  this  ‘ happy  family  ’ manages  to  live  together 
fairly  well. 

Every  day  there  is  a good  market  on  the  mission  beach, 
while  every  third  day  larger  numbers  gather,  and  8co  people 
may  be  seen  bartering  fish  for  bread  stuffs,  vegetables,  fruit, 
oil,  pottery,  and  firewood.  The  women  come  down  from  the 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-0  269 


hills  with  very  heavy  loads  of  wood  and  plaintain,  and 
every  one  bargains  and  shouts  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  It 
is  a most  interesting  scene.  The  pottery  is  well  turned  by 
hand  in  a dove-coloured  clay,  adorned  with  scratched  patterns 
and  red  marks,  the  whole  being  varnished  by  rubbing  the 
hot  ware  with  copal,  when  sufficiently  baked.  Cane  baskets 
and  mats  of  good  make  may  be  obtained.  The  men  are 
always  decently  dressed,  the  women  never ; they  are  satisfied 
with  a string  of  beads,  and  very  often  not  even  that.  They 
adorn  their  bodies  with  marks  and  patterns  in  cam-wood 
powder,  or  put-black  and  oil,  and  are  perfectly  unconscious  of 
any  impropriety.  This  undress  of  the  women  has  not  much 
improved  even  now  in  1899;  the  ladies  of  the  mission  have 
tried  their  utmost  to  bring  about  a change.  Now  and  then 
a woman  may  be  seen  wearing  the  grass  petticoats  of  the 
Bangala  lower  down  the  river,  and  no  woman  is  allowed  to 
come  to  the  station  or  to  the  services  without  a covering 
of  some  kind,  if  only  a plantain  leaf,  or  a gazelle’s  skin. 

The  adornments  most  affected  in  the  old  days  were  neck- 
laces formed  of  half-inch  sections  of  the  leg-bones  of  fowls. 
These  were  counted  treasures  indeed,  and  no  slave  girl  miglit 
wear  them  ; death  was  sure  punishment  for  those  who  so  far 
forgot  their  station  in  life:  indeed,  the  man  who  presented 
beads  to  a slave  wife  would  be  put  to  death.  Great  was  the 
delight  of  the  natives  when  white  men  appeared,  ready  to  buy 
food  and  wares  for  china  pipe  beads  of  the  same  size,  and 
whiter  even  than  their  highly  prized  chicken-bone  beads. 
Blue  beads,  red  beads,  figured  beads  were  scorned,  the  cheap, 
coarse  white  china  half-inch  beads  were  jewels.  For  glass  we 
had  given  them  diamonds.  Any  one  provided  with  these 
perlcs  of  great  price  was  sure  of  loading  up  his  steamer  with 
food  at  Bopoto  beach.  It  was  well  indeed  that  we  found 
something  that  the  people  did  want ; it  simplified  very 
considerably  the  commissariat  of  the  mission.  The  women 
seemed  to  be  iii-satiable  in  their  greed  for  beads,  and  after 
a while  long  rows  of  free-born  women  would  appear  on  great 
occasions  to  dance  in  caps  of  white  beads,  with  anklets, 
bracelets,  and  necklaces  of  beads,  eight  inches  deep,  their 


270  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


skins  abundantly  encrusted  with  powdered  cam-wood  and  oil. 
The  wealth  and  magnificence  of  Bopoto  had  reached  a climax 
undreamt  of — inconceivable. 

Tattooing  is  wellnigh  universal  on  the  upper  river.  The 
neat  close  curves  which  score  the  faces  of  the  Bateke  near 
Stanley  Pool  have  been  already  described.  The  Bobangi 
content  themselves  with  a line  or  two  across  the  forehead. 
This  tattooing  is  not  accomplished  by  means  of  pigments, 
that  is  out  of  question  on  a ‘black  ’ skin  ; but  a number  of 
little  cuts  are  made  in  the  skin.  Over  each  of  these  cuts 
a cicatrix  forms,  more  or  less  raised.  When  the  cuts  are 
thoroughly  healed,  they  are  cut  again  on  one  edge  of  the 
cicatrices  ; this  raises  them  higher.  This  process  is  repeated 
again  and  again  until,  in  the  case  of  the  Western  Bangala,  the 
tribal  mark,  which  is  a line  down  the  forehead  to  the  nose, 
stands  out  on  the  forehead  like  a cock’s  comb,  nearly  an  inch 
in  height.  The  braver  the  man,  the  less  afraid  he  is  of  pain, 
the  bigger  his  ‘comb.’  Among  the  Western  Bangala  the 
system  reaches  its  extreme  in  size  and  boldness  of  outline  ; 
but  at  Bopoto  it  surpasses  all  in  its  elaborate  character. 
Lines  and  curves  of  small  cicatrices,  each  from  one-sixth  to 
a quarter  of  an  inch  in  length,  cover  the  entire  face,  render- 
ing it  very  hideous.  On  the  Lulongo  river  may  be  seen 
people  who,  by  means  of  repeated  cicatrization,  have  pro- 
duced a sort  of  wattle  of  the  size  and  shape  of  a pigeon’s  egg, 
which  wobbles  about  and  dangles  beside  the  ear.  These 
cicatrices  require  to  be  frequently  recut  to  keep  them  promi- 
nent ; otherwise  the  face  becomes  smooth  again,  and  the 
mark  almost  dies  out.  It  is  no  unusual  sight  to  see  a man, 
his  face  covered  with  blood,  being  recut.  The  cuts  are  made 
with  a short  pin  having  one  end  beaten  out,  with  a curved 
chisel-like  edge. 

The  Bopoto  people  were  fierce  cannibals.  Through  fear  of 
the  State  the  custom  has  been  given  up  in  its  grosser  forms, 
Avherever  there  is  a chance  of  the  deed  becoming  known. 
This,  however,  is  only  of  late  ; the  custom  was  in  full  prac- 
tice when  our  work  amongst  them  commenced.  The  burial 
of  those  Bopoto-Bangala  who  attain  to  that  blessedness  is 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  271 


accomplished  on  one  of  the  islands.  'A  case  of  cannibalism 
occurred  as  late  as  June,  1898,  when  some  of  the  inland  people, 
accompanying  a State'  force,  burnt  some  towns  a little  above 
Bopoto. 

In  the  country,  on  the  hills  behind,  are  many  villages  of  the 
Moya  people  ; they,  too,  appear  to  consist  of  two  tribes,  for 
a second  Moya  language  is  heard  at  no  great  distance  from 
the  river.  They  do  not  build  quadrangles,  but  instead  two 
long  curves  of  houses.  At  each  end  there  is  an  entrance  way, 
from  which  the  curves  sweep  outwards,  leaving  an  oval  space 
about  fifty  yards  wide.  The  houses  are  built  on  mud  plat- 
forms, to  raise  the  floors  clear  of  the  rain-water.  These 
houses  are  about  18  ft.  long,  but  very  low,  seldom  more  than 
3 ft.  6 in.  high  at  the  ridge-pole  ; sometimes  even  not  more 
than  2 ft.  6 in.,  only  an  inch  or  two  higher  than  an  ordinary 
table.  The  walls  are  of  pieces  of  bark  or  of  rough  planks 
sewn  together  ; the  roof  is  thatched  with  large  leaves  of  a 
species  of  palm,  in  which  the  frondlets  are  not  separate,  but 
grouped  in  series  of  five  and  six  as  one  leaf.  Many  of  the 
houses  have  no  outer  wall.  Everything  in  this  points  to  a 
very  wild  life.  The  huts  are  so  low,  and  are  thus  arranged, 
to  serve  as  a breastwork  for  purposes  of  defence.  If  either  of 
the  entrances  should  be  carried,  there  always  remains  a way 
of  exit  through  one  of  the  wall-less  houses.  So  these  wild 
cannibal  Moya  lived,  constantly  prepared  for  war,  fully  armed 
with  spear  and  knife,  violent,  and  suffering  violence.  The 
open  space  of  the  town  is  sometimes  utilized  to  grow  a little 
tobacco,  which  is  most  carefully  tended.  When  I was  at 
Bopoto  in  1896  I walked  through  thirty-five  of  these  villages, 
groups  of  houses,  or  whatever  they  may  be  called,  in  a walk 
inland  from  the  station  of  an  hour  and  a half.  At  Ngali,  ten 
hours  distant  inland,  the  State  has  a plantation  and  a Govern- 
ment post.  The  Mungala  river  is  reached  by  a journey  inland 
of  five  days.  These  Moya  people,  many  of  them,  are  less  cut 
and  tattooed  than  the  riverine  Bangala  folk ; but  bad  is  the 
best.  In  iron-work  they  are  very  clever,  their  knives  and 
spears  display  great  ability  ; in  wood,  too,  they  make  chairs, 
cups,  plates,  &c. 


MOVA  VILLAGli,  liorOTO 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER : 1890-9  • 273 


The  languages  of  the  Bopoto  people  have  been  vigorously 
attacked.  The  language  of  the  Bangala  people  has  received 
the  most  attention,  some  5,000  or  6,000  words  having  been 
acquired  ; but  only  a few  hymns,  the  first  school  books,  and 
a Scripture  reading  book  by  Oram  have  been  printed  as  yet. 
Although  the  Bopoto-Bangala  are  considered  to  be  of  the 
same  tribe  as  those  at  Monsembe,  there  are  such  serious 
differences  in  words  and  grammar  that  the  natives  cannot 
understand  each  other,  and  literary  work  for  one  section  is  of 
no  use  to  the  other. 

White  applied  himself  for  twelve  months  to  the  study  of 
the  language  of  the  Moya  people,  and  obtained  some  2,000 
of  their  words.  He  visited  their  towns,  and  once  had  a very 
narrow  escape  from  some  people  who  were  hostile  to  his 
coming.  Only  a few  words  of  the  second  Moya  language 
have  as  yet  been  gained. 

After  the  foundation  of  Bopoto  and  Monsembe  stations, 
very  great  difficulty  was  caused  by  the  delay  in  receiving 
fresh  supplies,  in  consequence  of  the  seizure  of  the  Peace  by 
the  Government  for  the  conveyance  of  stores  and  ammuni- 
tion to  Lusamba  on  the  Upper  Sankuru-Kasai.  Barter  stock 
and  food  supplies  ran  quite  out.  But  for  aid  rendered  very 
kindly  by  the  Dutch  Trading  Company  and  the  American 
Mission,  very  serious  consequences  must  have  ensued.  Seven 
months  had  elapsed  before  fresh  supplies  were  brought  to 
them.  House  building  and  medical  and  school  work  pro- 
gressed, and  Oram  and  Forfeitt  soon  made  themselves  at 
home  among  the  people. 

When  the  school  work  had  been  carried  on  for  four  or  five 
months  the  school  ‘ struck,’  and  refused  to  come  again  with- 
out pay.  After  a while  a new  lot  of  boys  were  induced  to 
come,  the  strikers  holding  out  resolutely  until  after  the 
Christmas  feast  and  distribution  of  prizes.  There  was  a 
week’s  holiday  then,  and  on  New  Year’s  Day  school  was 
reopened  ; a general  invitation  was  given  to  all  who  wished 
to  enter.  The  envy  of  the  ‘ strikers  ’ on  the  festive  occasion 
was  unendurable.  They  saw  boys  who  had  been  but  two 
months  and  less  in  the  school  enjoy  a feast,  while  they  had 


274  • PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


to  stand  hungry  behind  the  fence.  That  broke  their  spirit  ; 
the  result  was  an  earnest  plea  for  restoration  to  school 
privileges  ; and  from  that  time  the  school  has  been  a most 
popular  institution  at  Bopoto.  There  are  now  some  sixty 
boys  and  sixty  girls  in  regular  attendance. 

In  February,  1891,  W.  P.  Balfern  arrived,  and  was  located 
at  Bopoto,  to  set  Oram  free  to  take  his  furlough.  He  only 
stayed  six  months  in  England,  returning  in  November,  1891. 
For  two  years  more  the  work  was  pushed  on  with  great 
energy.  Interesting  itinerations  were  made,  up,  down,  and 
across  the  river,  and  there  was  good  progress  in  all  depart- 
ments of  the  work.  In  the  end  of  1893  Forfeitt  returned  from 
his  furlough,  bringing  a wife  with  him,  to  the  great  joy  of 
the  girls  and  women  folk  of  Bopoto.  Balfern  was  thus  set 
free  to  take  his  furlough,  for  he  had  been  nearly  three  years 
in  the  country.  He  was  in  good  health,  but  the  Committee 
of  the  Society  had  very  wisely  decided  that  three  years  was 
to  be  the  limit  of  the  first  term  of  service  on  the  Congo, 
while  ladies  have  to  return  home  after  two  years.  Early  in 
February,  Oram  fell  sick.  His  earnest  spirit  had  overtaxed 
his  strength,  and  this  rendered  him  less  fit  to  stand  against 
the  fever.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Forfeitt  nursed  him  with  all  care 
and  affection,  and  the  best  was  done,  without  avail.  The 
Peace  arrived  with  Grenfell,  Weeks,  and  Clark,  bringing 
letters  from  home,  which  much  brightened  the  sufferer ; but 
on  February  17,  1894,  he  very  tranquilly  breathed  his  last. 
Just  before  he  died  he  was  heard  to  whisper,  ‘ May  my  testi- 
mony be  made  a blessing,  for  Jesus  Christ’s  sake  ! ’ Then,  after 
a pause,  ‘And  now,  dear  Lord,  take  me!’  and  so  he  passed 
away.  Brave,  warm-hearted,  intensely  in  earnest,  plodding 
and  energetic,  Oram  could  ill  be  spared.  He  had  won  the 
hearts  of  the  people  to  a remarkable  extent.  The  boys  knew 
how  he  loved  them,  and  were  much  attached  to  him  ; bitterly 
did  they  weep,  when  they  heard  that  he  was  gone  from  them  ; 
they  realized  that  he  had  given  his  life  for  them.  In  the 
distribution  of  work  upon  the  station  the  school  work  had 
largely  fallen  to  Oram.  Those  wild  Bopoto  lads  had  never 
before  known  a friend  so  good,  so  patient,  so  wise,  to  help 


Balfern  was  making  a pleasant  run  home  in  company  with 
Scrivener.  Shortly  after  passing  the  latitudes  of  Sierra 
Leone,  the  homeward-going  steamers  encounter  first  the 
north-east  trade  winds.  The  sudden  change  of  temperature 
is  very  dangerous  to  those  newly  coming  from  the  tropics. 
When  Balfern  felt  the  first  chill  of  the  strong  cool  wind, 
he  realized  that  warmer  clothes  were  necessary ; but  half  an 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  275 

them.  The  influence  of  his  life  still  works.  His  dying  prayer 
has  been  heard — his  testimony  has  been  made  a blessing. 
His  remains  lie  buried  on  the  hill,  loo  feet  above  the  river, 
beside  a beautiful  cluster  of  palm-trees.  No  nobler  epitaph 
could  be  written  for  him  than  the  very  words  one  hears  from 
native  lips:  ‘He  loved  us.’  ‘He  died  for  us.’  ‘We  loved 
him.’ 


gram's  grave 


276  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  ISOO^O 


hour  passed  before  he  went  down  to  fetch  another  coat. 
A fever  resulted  from  the  chill,  which  at  one  time  was  serious  ; 
the  fever  yielded  to  treatment,  and  Balfern  landed  at  Madeira, 
hoping  that  a day  or  two  would  set  him  up.  The  doctor 
who  was  called  found  that  his  lungs  were  badly  congested  ; 
this  complication  had  not  been  noticed  while  the  fever  was 
on.  Haemorrhage  from  the  lungs  followed,  and  the  same 
evening,  February  19,  1894,  Balfern  died — ^just  two  days  after 
his  colleague  Oram.  Mr.  Smart,  the  missionary  at  Madeira, 
and  Mrs.  Smart,  showed  every  kindness,  having  received  him 
at  their  house.  Balfern  was  a most  lovable  man,  earnest, 
and  thoroughly  devoted  ; he  seemed  to  be  singularly  fitted 
for  the  work  to  which  God  had  called  him.  The  loss  of  these 
two  gifted  brethren  from  one  station,  within  two  days  of  each 
other,  was  a gi'eat  blow.  If  the  Bopoto  people  were  grieved 
at  the  death  of  Oram,  the  news  of  Balfern’s  death,  imme- 
diately following,  greatly  affected  many  of  them.  G.  D. 
Brown  and  Kirkland  went  to  Bopoto  to  occupy  the  places 
thus  rendered  vacant. 

As  at  other  stations  on  the  upper  river,  the  spiritual  work 
is  still  in  its  earlier  stages.  The  firstfruits  have,  however, 
been  gathered  in.  The  first  of  the  Bopoto  people  to  come 
to  the  Saviour  was  Oram’s  personal  servant,  Linima-nima. 
He  and  another  young  man,  named  Likundu,  were  baptized 
on  December  13,  1896.  There  are  at  present  (September  9, 
1899)  five  baptized  converts  at  Bopoto,  one  of  whom  belongs 
to  the  Moya  tribe.  Four  others  will  be  baptized  shortly. 

The  people  are  grossly  superstitious  and  cruel,  but  there 
is  a decided  improvement  since  1890.  Kenred  Smith  was 
able  to  write  in  1896 : ‘ Cannibalism  in  the  towns  near  the 
station  is  a thing  of  the  past.  The  custom  of  killing  slaves 
for  burial  with  dead  chiefs,  common  enough  in  days  gone  by, 
has  received  its  death-blow.  Poisoning  for  witchcraft  is  no 
longer  openly  practised.  I'aith  in  fetishes  and  medicine-men 
is  gradually  dying-out.  These  things  in  themselves  are  no 
mean  results  of  the  civilizing  and  Christianizing  influences 
which  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  this  stronghold  of 
heathendom.’ 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  lSOO-9  277 


The  Bopoto  station  is  in  an  excellent  position  for  missionary 
work  ; the  population  within  reach  is  considerable  ; every- 
thing is  full  of  promise.  A few  years  more  of  steady  work 


FIRST  CONVER'IS  AT  BOFOTO 

should  see  great  progress,  and  by  the  blessing  of  God  we 
may  yet  see  numbers  of  the  present  generation  even,  the 
adults  of  to-day,  brought  to  trust  in  Jesus,  and  living  noble, 
Christian  lives,  to  the  glory  of  God. 


278  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER  : 1890  9 


Sargent  Station,  Yakusu. 

When  Darby  was  on  furlough  in  England  in  1 890,  he  was 
expecting  on  his  return  to  commence  a new  station  on  the 
upper  river.  At  Bristol  he  appealed  for  help  towards  the 
initial  expenses  of  the  station.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  G.  Sargent, 
of  Clifton,  responded  so  generously  that  Darby  promised 
that  the  station  should  bear  their  name.  But  Darby  was 
never  to  found  the  station.  It  was  intended  that  the  work 
should  be  commenced  on  the  Mobangi  river,  at  Mojembo, 
a large  town  in  a populous  district ; but  on  Darby’s  return  to 
the  Congo,  the  natives  of  Mojembo  had  been  at  war  with  the 
State,  and  the  town  was  destroyed.  Shorthandedness  at  the 
time  made  it  necessary  that  Darby  should  remain  for  a while 
at  Bolobo.  Early  in  1894,  to  his  great  regret  and  ours,  he 
had  to  return  home,  the  condition  of  his  wife’s  health  rendering 
further  life  in  the  tropics  impossible.  So  it  was  that  we  lost 
an  earnest,  energetic,  and  very  able  colleague,  who  had  done 
a great  deal  towards  the  reduction  of  the  Bobangi  language. 

White  was  then  selected  to  commence  the  new  station, 
when  there  should  be  sufficient  men  for  a forward  movement. 
A point  on  the  Loika-Itimbiri  was  then  selected,  but  the  State 
objected  to  our  settlement  there,  on  account  of  the  hostility 
of  the  people  of  the  district.  It  was  resolved  that  a fresh 
examination  of  the  main  river  should  be  made,  with  a view 
to  ascertaining  the  best  site. 

Eighty  miles  above  Bopoto  is  a populous  district  which 
was  at  that  time  very  hostile.  Two  State  posts  are  passed 
before  reaching  Basoko,  the  fortified  camp  of  the  State  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Aruwimi  (Aluhimi)  river.  This  stronghold 
had  been  built  some  years  before  as  a check  to  the  Arabs, 
who  at  one  time  threatened  a descent  and  the  pillage  of  the 
whole  river.  Basoko  is  now  a penal  settlement  for  criminals 
of  the  lower  river  and  the  cataract  region.  Eighteen  miles 
below  Basoko  and  1 50  miles  above  Bopoto  the  first  high  land 
appears.  Thirty  miles  above  Basoko  the  right  bank  of  the 
river  is  eighty  feet  high,  the  swamp  land  is  passed,  and 
the  hills  appear. 


THE  GOODWILL  LEAVING  liOPOTO  TO  FOUND  SARGENT  STATION,  YAKUSU 


28o  progress  on  the  UPPER  RIVER  : tS90  9 


At  the  mouth  of  the  Lomami  (Lubila  Loomi)  river,  explored 
by  Grenfell  in  1H85,  is  a large  State  post  and  a trading  factory, 
beside  the  township  of  Isangi.  A great  market  of  2000  people 
assembles  there.  Great  numbers  of  people  in  this  district 
live  in  canoes,  and  not  on  land  at  all.  A small  shelter  is  built 
over  the  middle  of  the  canoe,  which  serves  as  a house  in  which 
they  are  born,  live,  and  die.  These  people  live  by  fishing, 
bartering  their  fish,  dried  and  fresh,  on  the  markets  for  bread 
stuffs  and  other  necessaries. 

Above  Isangi  are  the  Lokele  towns,  which  stretch  for 
forty-five  miles  to  Rome,  the  first  great  Arab  settlement. 
It  is  now  ah  hour's  walk  from  the  beach.  When  I visited 
the  place  in  1896,  Musudi  was  the  chief.  There  have  been 
some  pure  Arabs  at  Stanley  Falls ; but  many  who  are  con- 
sidered Arabs  have  very  little  Arab  blood  in  them,  many 
indeed  have  none  at  all.  Half-caste  Arabs  have  traded  and 
grown  rich,  and  so  have  some  of  their  slaves.  Some  of  the 
slaves  of  these  again  have  become  wealthy  and  practically 
independent.  All  such  men  have  adopted  the  Arab  dress  — 
a long  white  gown  and  white  cap.  They  build  wattle  and 
daub  houses  after  the  Arab  style,  speak  Swahili,  the  language 
of  Zanzibar,  and  affect  the  Arab  civilization  and  the  Moham- 
medan religion.  Musudi  can  read  and  write  the  Arabic 
character,  but  how  much  he  understands  of  his  Koran  is 
a very  open  question.  They  have  built  mosques  in  some 
places.  Frightful  atrocities  have  been  committed  by  these 
so-called  Arabs,  but  now  their  power  has  been  broken  by 
Baron  Dhanis  and  his  gallant  officers  during  the  Arab  wars 
of  1892-4.  Now  they  have  taken  to  planting  and  legitimate 
trade,  instead  of  slave-raiding  ; and  square  miles  of  rice  farms 
surround  their  settlements.  They  are  also  planting  coffee. 
In  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome  there  are  Arab  settlements 
on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  Arab  influence  is  very  great 
from  there  to  the  Falls.  When  Grenfell  and  White  were 
making  their  voyage  in  1895,  to  choose  the  site  for  the  new 
station,  the  Rome  settlement  was  all  on  the  river  bank. 

Stanley  Falls  was  visited,  and  it  was  decided  that  the 
station  should  be  built  at  Yakusu,  ten  miles  west  of  the  Falls, 


VOL.  II. 


T 


RUINS  OF  AK.\n  MOS(^>lJE  AT  ISANGI 


282  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


and  1300  miles  from  the  coast.  White  remained  at  the  place, 
being  left  there  with  a boat  and  men,  to  learn  more  about 
the  district,  and  ascertain  its  fitness  for  the  purpose  of 
a station.  These  inquiries  being  made,  White  returned  after 
a few  weeks  to  Bopoto.  He  went  back  to  Yakusu  to  start 
the  station  on  February  8,  1896. 

Sargent  Station  is  about  ten  miles  below  the  Stanley  Falls, 
and  a mile  below  the  mouth  of  the  Lindi  river,  which  figured 
as  the  Mbura  in  the  older  maps.  The  banks  there  are  high 
and  very  steep.  The  station  is  eighty  feet  above  the  river. 
It  is  built  in  a township  of  about  600  of  the  Lokele  people 
called  Yakusu.  The  Lokele  are  fisher-folk  who  spend  much 
of  their  time  in  canoes,  and  build  wretchedly  small  shanties 


on  land,  often  not  bigger  or  higher  at  the  walls  than  a dining 
table  ; 6 ft.  by  4 ft.,  with  3 ft.  6 in.  at  the  ridge-pole,  is  enough 
for  a man’s  shelter  at  night,  if  he  sits  under  a tree  all  day. 
Another  shelter  like  it  joined  to  one  of  the  ends  will  suffice 
for  a wife  and  a nursling  family.  ‘ Man  wants  but  little  here 
below!’  The  huts  are  arranged  in  parallel  lines,  like  those 
at  Bopoto.  One  wonders  how  they  hold  together,  so  frail  and 
light  are  they ; a few  mats  for  walls,  a few  more  for  a roof, 
a stick  or  two  to  stiffen  it  all,  and  it  is  a house  ! 

Five  tribes  are  found  close  to  the  station,  so  that  it  is 
a fine  strategic  point  for  a mission.  The  Lokele  appear  to 
have  their  centre  near  the  Lomami.  They  have  six  townships 
between  Rome  and  Stanley  Falls  (twenty-five  miles),  three 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890  -9  283 


Yakusu  towns,  Yatuka, 
Yatumbu,  and  Yali- 
kombe.  From  Rome 
to  the  Lomami  river 
there  is  said  to  be  a 
line  of  towns  of  the 
Tofoke  or  Foma,  a 
strong  people  who  have 
their  home  on  the  Lo- 
mami. They  have  one 
town,  Yakake,  opposite 
our  station,  about  forty 
minutes’  walk  inland,  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river. 
The  Tofoke  people  are 
hunters  ; they  sell  ante- 
lope flesh  to  the  river 
people,  and  some  india- 
rubber  to  the  white 
men.  By  this  town  we 
have  a link  with  the 
whole  tribe.  The  Tu- 
rumbu  people  live  inland 
on  the  north  bank  be- 
hind the  station,  and 
along  the  north  bank ; 
they  are  great  agricul- 
turists, and  supply  the 
bread  stuff  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  Wamanga 
tribe  live  up  the  Lindi, 
and  in  the  hinterland. 
They  arc  great  carvers 
in  wood,  and  make 
canoes,  paddles,  stools, 
and  wooden  utensils. 
Their  language  abounds 
in  gutturals ; they  are 


284  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


men  with  heavy  jaws  and  deep  bass  voices.  On  the  east 
(right)  bank  of  the  river,  from  the  Falls  to  within  one  daj' 
of  Nyangwe,  is  found  the  great  tribe  of  the  Bakumu,  who 
live  in  the  great  forest.  They  have  a town  or  two  near 
the  Lindi  mouth.  Beside  all  these  tribes  there  is  the  so- 
called  Arab  population,  who  speak  Swahili,  the  language 
of  the  east  coast  about  Zanzibar,  and  constitute  practicall)^ 
another — a sixth — tribe.  The  map  on  p.  283  will  help  to 
understand  the  positions  indicated. 

The  presence  of  this  mixed  population  presents  great 
linguistic  difficulty.  It  has  been  deemed  right,  for  the  present 
at  least,  to  make  Swahili  the  language  of  the  station  and 
schools ; it  is  the  language  used  by  the  State  and  the  Arabs, 
and  is  becoming  the  lingua  franca.  It  is  well  reduced,  and 
has  already  its  Christian  literature  and  New  Testament. 
The  other  languages  are  being  studied  for  the  purposes  of 
evangelistic  work. 

The  early  history  of  Sargent  Station  has  been  very  sad. 
White  was  back  at  Yakusu  early  in  1896,  and  Chas.  J.  Dodds, 
a new  colleague,  joined  him  on  May  3.  White  suffered 
terribly  from  tropical  diarrhoea,  and  was  in  such  a weak  and 
anaemic  condition  that  he  could  scarcely  attend  to  the 
building  work  at  all.  The  Yakusu  people  would  not  work 
with  any  regularity,  and  the  progress  was  very  slow.  The 
house  in  which  they  lived  was  small,  crowded  with  goods 
and  stores,  and  in  no  way  suitable  for  anything  but  very 
temporary  habitation.  Dodds  fell  sick  also.  Mrs.  White  had 
not  accompanied  her  husband  when  he  returned  to  the  Congo, 
but  waited  in  England  until  he  had  had  some  time  to  prepare 
for  her  coming.  When  he  commenced  to  build,  he  wrote  for 
her  to  come,  knowing  how  long  it  would  take  for  his  letter 
to  reach  home,  and  for  her  to  arrive  at  his  remote  station. 
She  arrived  at  Sargent  Station  in  September,  1896  ; with  her 
travelled  Wherrett,  a new  colleague,  who  was  to  replace 
Dodds,  and  allow  him  to  go  to  Bopoto.  The  frame-house 
was  far  from  ready  for  occupation,  and  Wherrett  had  to 
make  a room  for  himself  with  tent-cloths,  in  what  was  used 
as  a carpenter’s  shed.  However,  they  set  to  work  with 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  285 


energy  to  make  life  more  liveable.  The  house  in  construction 
was  raised  upon  wooden  pillars,  and  when  the  floor  was  put 
down  Wherrett  set  up  his  tent  in  it,  until  the  roof  could 
be  completed. 

The  rains  were  frequent  in  November;  the  river  was  un- 
usually high,  and  had  flooded  some  of  the  establishments 
of  the  traders,  and  of  the  Arabs  at  Stanley  Falls.  The 
weather  was  cool,  especially  at  night,  and  Wherrett  caught 
a chill,  which  induced  toothache.  On  November  18  he  had 
a slight  fever.  On  November  20  he  was  better,  but  remained 
in  bed.  At  night  the  fever  was  strong.  Mrs.  White  was  also 
suffering  from  fever.  White  himself  was  feverish.  The  next 
day  Wherrett’s  fever  became  more  serious  ; in  spite  of  all 
treatment,  cold  sponging,  and  wet  packs,  his  temperature 
rose;  coma  set  in,  and  with  a temperature  of  110°  he  passed 
away  on  November  21,  1896,  just  two  short  months  after 
his  arrival  at  the  station.  He  had  struggled  bravely  with 
the  difficulties  of  the  early  days  of  an  advanced  post ; but  the 
kindly  gentle  ways  of  Akelalan,  the  well-doer  (his  native 
name),  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  the  Yakusu  people, 
especially  the  boys,  who  took  to  him  from  the  first.  A college 
friend  of  Wherrett  wrote ; ‘ He  was  admired  by  all  who 
knew  him  for  his  quiet  enthusiasm,  his  dogged  perseverance, 
enabling  him  to  overcome  difficulties  which  would  have 
deterred  many  another  man  from  becoming  a missionary  at 
all,  and  for  his  kindliness,  which  made  him  a general 
favourite.’ 

A month  later  Stephens,  who  had  been  engaged  in  some 
very  hard  transport  work  in  the  cataract  region,  arrived  at 
Yakusu,  to  take  the  place  left  vacant  by  Wherrett.  White’s 
condition  did  not  improve.  Stephens  had  a bad  haemo- 
globinuric  fever  in  March,  1897,  and  both  he  and  White  were 
so  weak,  when  the  Goodwill  returned  to  Yakusu  shortly 
afterwards,  that  it  was  decided  that  both  ought  to  return 
to  England.  It  was  much  against  White’s  wish  that  he 
started  homewards,  he  was  so  anxious  to  do  at  least  six 
months  more  of  work  upon  the  languages ; but  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  remain 


286  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  mo-d 


The  Whites  and  Stephens  descended  to  Stanley  Pool  in 
the  Goodwill.  After  sixty  miles  in  hammocks  overland,  they 
took  the  train  at  the  Nkisi  river,  and  so  to  Matadi,  after 
a delay  at  Tumba.  There  was  a steamer  in,  which  was 
going  first  to  Loanda  ; they  were  glad  to  take  passage  in 
her,  and  to  get  to  sea.  White  had  stood  the  journey  well, 
but  was  very  frail  and  anaemic.  He  went  ashore  with 
Stephens  at  Loanda,  and  seemed  well  ; but  next  day  he 
took  a chill,  and  fever  followed,  with  the  trouble  from  which 
he  had  long  suffered.  The  fever  seemed  to  pass  off  almost  in 
a day  or  two  ; but  it  returned,  and  on  July  4,  1897,  he  died. 
The  ship  was  nearing  Mayumba.  Stephens  remembered 
that  Thomas  Comber  had  been  buried  there,  and  was  suc- 
cessful in  making  arrangements  for  White’s  burial  beside 
the  white  marble  cross  which  marks  Comber’s  grave.  So 
the  remains  of  Thomas  Comber  and  White  lie  side  by  side 
on  the  beach  at  Mayumba,  220  miles  to  the  north  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Congo,  ‘ Until  He  come.’ 

White  was  a man  of  a very  strong  character  ; whole- 
heartedly devoted  to  his  work,  he  struggled  with  the  diffi- 
culties which  beset  him  with  an  immense  determination  and 
great  fortitude ; his  linguistic  abilities  were  very  good.  He 
was  very  earnest  in  his  desire  for  the  forward  development 
of  the  work,  and  accepted  his  pioneer  position  with  enthu- 
siasm ; but  his  long-continued  disorder  sapped  his  life  energy, 
and  cut  him  off  after  eight  years  of  service. 

The  Goodwill  had  brought  up  Beedham  to  Yakusu  in 
March,  1897,  to  relieve  White.  Cameron  happened  to  be 
on  board,  taking  the  voyage  for  his  health.  When  Cameron 
saw  that  Beedham  would  have  to  be  alone,  he  volunteered 
to  remain  with  him  until  Dodds  could  be  fetched  from 
Bopoto.  Dodds  had  to  leave  on  August  5,  on  account  of 
another  breakdown  of  his  health,  and  Beedham  was  alone 
for  three  months.  It  was  felt  that  relief  should  be  sent  as 
soon  as  possible.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stapleton  were  able  to  leave 
their  work  at  Monsembe,  to  take  permanent  charge  of  the 
operations  at  Yakusu,  and  arrived  at  Sargent  Station  on 
November  4. 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9  287 


Mrs.  Stapleton  brought  with  her  her  girl  Salamo,  who  had 
been  baptized  at  Monsembe  in  January,  1895.  Salamo  was 
an  earnest  Christian  girl.  She  was  intensely  anxious  that 
her  own  people  should  hear  the  Gospel.  Where  they  were, 
she  did  not  know.  It  was  somewhere  up  river.  Often  she 
urged  that  if  a white  man  could  not  go,  she  might  be  sent 
up  to  live  among  her  people,  that  at  least  she  might  tell  her 
own  friends  of  the  Saviour’s  love.  Her  tOAvn  had  been  burnt 
and  looted  by  the  Arabs  when  she  was  quite  a little  child, 
and  no  one  had  an  idea  where  her  people  might  be.  She 
thought  and  prayed  about  it  much,  and  longed  to  tell  them 
of  Jesus. 

When  the  steamer  which  conveyed  the  Stapletons  and 
Salamo  was  near  to  Yakusu,  Salamo 
was  delighted  to  hear  her  own  language 
again — the  Lokele.  A little  later,  in  a 
town  very  near  to  the  station,  she  saw 
her  own  father  again,  and  her  cup  of 
joy  was  full.  The  people  were  veiy 
excited  when  they  heard  of  her  return. 

Since  then  she  has  been  most  useful. 

Her  language  soon  'came  back  to  her 
when  she  heard  it  spoken,  and  every 
Sunday  she  translates  the  address  into 
Lokele,  or  delivers  one  herself. 

So  marvellously  does  God  work  out 
His  purposes,  and  accomplish  His  will,  making  use  even  of 
an  Arab  slave  raid  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel.  In 
Salamo,  then,  we  have  already  one  of  the  Yakusu  natives 
living  an  earnest  Christian  life,  and  seeking  to  lead  the  Lokele 
tribesmen  to  the  Saviour  she  so  strangely  found. 

School  work  is  being  carried  on.  In  January,  1898,  the 
Stapletons  commenced  it  regularly,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  there  were  thirty  girls  and  forty  boys  in  attendance. 

Instead  of  a continued  story  of  sickness  and  death,  the 
health  at  Sargent  Station  is  now  good.  There  is  some 
excellent  timber  in  the  neighbourhood  ; one  tree  felled 
yielded  400  planks,  nine  inches  wide  and  ten  feet  in  length. 


W.  U.  SlAPLliTON 


288  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


Some  bricks  have  been  made  from  the  clay  of  a great  ant- 
hill on  the  place,  and  it  is  probable  that  some  brick  buildings 
will  be  erected.  The  first  hard  times  are  over,  and  Yakusu 
bids  fair  to  have  a good  record  in  the  future,  now  that  proper 
buildings  have  been  set  up. 

Itinerations  have  proved  that  the  population  of  the  district 
is  dense.  Lads  of  the  Turumbu,  Tofoke,  Wagenya  (Stanley 
Falls),  and  Wamanga  tribes  have  been  induced  to  stay  on 
the  station,  and  Stapleton  has  collected  grammar  notes  and 
vocabularies  of  their  languages,  as  well  as  of  the  Lokele. 
The  languages  are  not  mere  dialects,  but  present  considerable 
differences. 

Stapleton  writes : ‘ Our  parish  will  extend  to  Stanley  Falls 
on  the  east,  to  the  Lomami  river  on  the  west,  some  thirty 
miles  up  the  Lindi  to  the  north,  and  two  days’  journey  inland 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  river.  We  may  hope  to  extend 
our  influence  even  further  than  this.  During  the  past  year 
we  have  had  visitors  from  every  town  between  this  station 
and  Basoko,  a hundred  miles  below  (we  have  five  workmen 
from  Basoko),  from  a day’s  canoeing  up  the  Lomami  river, 
from  Yambuya  on  the  Aruwimi  river,  Arabs  with  their 
followers  from  150  miles  up  the  Lindi  river,  from  Nyangwe 
in  the  Manyuema  country  (I  have  a boy  from  that  district), 
from  Kambambare,  just  west  of  Lake  Tanganika  (another 
lad  from  that  district  has  been  left  with  us  for  six  months). 
We  have  also  two  men  working  for  us,  old  soldiers  of  the 
State,  whose  home  lies  between  the  Itimbiri  and  the  Welle, 
just  south  of  the  Niam-Niam  country.’ 

The  Stanley  Falls  are  a series  of  falls  and  cataracts  ex- 
tending over  some  sixty  miles.  The  Falls  station  of  the 
State  is  a little  below  the  last  of  this  series,  and  ten  miles 
above  Yakusu.  It  is  a well-built  station  ; brick  houses  and 
stores  make  a fitting  base  for  operations  north,  east,  and 
south.  Stanleyville  will  be  the  capital  of  Central  Africa. 
As  soon  as  the  Cape  to  Cairo  Railway  is  an  accomplished 
fact,  there  will  be  a connexion  between  it  and  Stanley  Falls. 

The  Falls  themselves  are  a drop  of  about  six  feet  only, 
over  a hard  step  of  red  micaceous  shale.  The  river  there  is 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9  289 

somewhat  wider  than  the  Thames  at  London  Bridge,  and 
the  volume  of  water  is  about  a quarter  of  that  which  passes 
Leopoldville,  Stanley  Pool,  1,000  miles  lower  down.  The 
great  Mobangi  sometimes  discharges  more  water  than  the 
river  into  which  it  flows.  Of  the  water  flowing  into  the  ocean 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Congo  river,  we  may  estimate  its  sources 
approximately  as  follows : a quarter  passes  over  the  Stanley 
Falls ; a quarter  from  the  Mobangi ; a quarter  from  the 
Kasai ; and  the  remaining  quarter  from  the  Lomami,  Aruwimi, 
Mongala,  Lolongo,  Uluki,  and  the  smaller  rivers.  The  biggest 
island  in  the  river  is  fifty-two  miles  long  by  eight  miles  in 
width,  unless  we  consider  the  100  miles  strip  of  country 
separated  from  the  mainland  by  the  Bokatalaka  creek  opposite 
Bangala. 

The  people  living  beside  the  brails  are  Wagenya ; they  are 
the  finest  watermen  of  the  river.  The  fisheries  at  the  Falls 
are  very  remarkable  ; they  have  called  for  and  evoked  consum- 
mate skill.  Their  management  of  the  great  canoes  in  the 
rushing  water  below  the  Falls  surpasses  everything  on  the 
river  elsewhere.  When  I was  at  the  Falls  in  1896,  with  Consul 
Pickersgill,  C.B.,  and  Grenfell,  Baron  Dhanis  called  for  two 
immense  canoes  to  descend  the  cataract  under  the  Fall. 
With  thirty-two  strong  paddlers  in  each  canoe,  we  descended 
the  swift  water  at  railway  speed.  It  was  the  first  time  that 
a British  Consul  had  visited  the  upper  river,  so  Baron  Dhanis 
received  him  with  much  ceremony,  and  a salute  with  his 
cannons,  on  arrival  and  departure. 

One  day  while  at  Yakusu,  we  witnessed  a display  of 
wrestling,  which  may  be  considered  the  national  sport  from 
Bopoto  upwards.  It  is  not  altogether  neglected  lower  down 
river,  but  from  Bopoto  upwards  it  is  a great  institution. 

The  rows  of  low  houses  in  the  Yakusu  town  are  at  right 
angles  to  the  river,  and  approach  to  within  twenty  paces  of 
the  laterite  cliff  (eighty  feet  high)  on  which  the  town  is  built. 
This  space  is  the  promenade  of  the  town. 

A tree  grew  on  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and  at  its  foot  stood 
several  great  wooden  drums,  raised  a foot  from  the  ground  on 
sticks.  Beside  the  drums  were  grouped  some  twenty-five 


WRESTLING  MATCH 


PROGRESS  ON  -THE  UPPER  RIIER:  1S90-0  291 


men  ; boys  perched  themselves  on  the  drums,  and  spread  out 
almost  to  the  opposite  group,  which  had  its  centre  at  the 
gable  end  of  a house.  These  two  groups  managed  the  play, 
chose  and  directed  the  champions. 

One  sturdy  fellow  came  out,  wearing  a cloth  of  beaten  bark, 
which  was  hitched  before  and  behind  to  a stout  girdle  of 
plaited  raphia  fibre.  As  he  stepped  out  from  his  place  beside 
the  drums,  one  of  his  partisans  followed  and  stopped  him,  to 
arrange  his  cloth.  The  champion  picked  up  two  pieces  of 
dry  plantain  leaf.  From  the  other  side  came  out  another 
man.  They  stood  looking  at  one  another,  six  feet  apart. 
The  first  man  offered  a piece  of  leaf,  which  was  accepted  ; 
they  looked  at  each  other  again.  The  accepter  of  the  chal- 
lenge then  changed  his  mind,  threw  his  leaf  to  his  left,  turned 
on  his  heel,  and  walked  back. 

Another  man  of  his  party  stepped  out  instead,  and  rubbed 
his  hands  in  the  dust,  to  ensure  his  grip  ; they  looked  at  each 
other,  and  then  put  out  their  hands  offering  to  grip  each 
other’s  girdles,  which  is  the  sole  clutch  allowed.  Each  wished 
to  have  his  arm  outside  on  the  river-ward  side,  but  there  was 
a demur  ; the  first  champion  retired  ; another  replaced  him, 
but  the  moment  that  they  tried  to  grip,  a lad  came  out  from 
the  house  party,  put  his  arms  round  the  wrestlers,  and  stopped 
them.  Then  the  two  champions  retired,  and  two  others  came  ; 
they  rubbed  their  hands  in  the  dust,  and  again  could  not 
agree  as  to  the  outside  arm  ; then  one  retired  and  was  replaced. 
The  new  man  came  out  smiling,  dusted  his  hands,  had  his 
cloth  arranged,  and  handed  a chip  of  wood  to  his  opponent, 
who  snapped  it  and  threw  it  down.  They  clutched  each 
other’s  girdles  and  bent  down,  each  with  his  head  on  the 
other’s  right  shoulder,  and  so  locked  and  bent  down  they 
began  to  walk  round.  Arching  their  backs  a little,  their  legs 
came  nearer  together ; then  one  endeavoured  to  twist  his 
right  leg  round  the  other’s  left.  Some  rule  as  to  the  clutch  or 
trip  was  broken,  and  the  wrestlers  were  promptly  seized  ; one 
retired  and  was  replaced.  Then  there  was  a mutual  clutch, 
only  to  be  interrupted  again  by  an  elderly  man,  with  the 
approval  of  all,  although  we  could  not  see  what  rule  had  been 


292  PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1890-9 


broken.  It  began  to  grow  monotonous  as  one  after  another 
offered,  and  were  somehow  disqualified  before  any  great 
exhibition  of  strength  had  been  made  ;"*but  presently  we  saw 
that  two  were  really  at  work.  They  had  clutched,  and  the 
four  legs  belonging  to  the  locked  and  straining  bodies  paced 
about ; then  they  commenced  to  sway  ; an  attempt  was  made 
to  trip,  but  failed.  Another  attempt,  and  this  time  one  man 
caught  the  other’s  leg  with  his  own;  a moment  of  struggle, 
a lift,  and  a throw,  and  the  champion  from  the  party  near 
the  drums  was  on  the  ground.  There  was  a rush  to  extricate 
the  fallen  man,  and  he  was  safely  pulled  over  to  his  own  side, 

there  to  relate  how  he  had  nearly  landed  his  conqueror  but 

The  victor’s  party  were  wild  with  delight,  they  shouted,  and 
bore  him  off  to  his  part  of  the  town.  All  his  section  turned 
out ; the  women  and  girls  to  dance  and  sing  of  his  prowess. 
Two  small  boys  of  the  victor’s  party  rushed  up  to  the  man 
who  was  thrown,  and  offered  him  some  plantain,  advising  him 
to  eat  a few  decent  meals  to  get  his  strength  up  before  attempt- 
ing to  wrestle  again.  Others  came  up  to  him  dancing  and 
deriding  him  ; one  naughty  boy  borrowed  a monkey-skin  hat, 
having  at  the  top  a bunch  of  the  red  feathers  from  parrots’ 
wings  ; he  ran  up  to  the  vanquished,  danced  derisively  before 
him,  with  his  back  to  him  ; then  with  some  more  expressed  con- 
tempt, he  threw  a couple  of  plantains  into  his  lap,  and  danced 
back  with  more  taunting  words.  We  expected  to  see  the  beaten 
party  become  angry,  but  the  best  of  temper  was  observed 
throughout ; never  the  slightest  appearance  of  annoyance  or 
impatience.  The  defeated  party  seemed  to  be  amused  at  the 
derision  of  which  they  were  the  objects,  and  to  enjoy  it  as 
much  as  the  victorious  party.  The  facetious  boys  were 
laughed  at  by  all.  The  match,  customs,  and  elaborate 
rules  were  very  interesting,  but  the  general  tone  of  good 
humour  and  self-control  was  still  more  remarkable ; it  was 
excellent. 

One  should  hesitate  to  call  such  people  savages ; wild  they 
are,  certainly,  sometimes — often  it  may  be— but  not  savage.  It 
is  somehow  possible  for  500  of  them  to  live  together  in  one 
town,  although  the  variety  of  their  tattooing  evidences  their 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER;  1S90-9  293 


mixed  origin  ; it  is  also  possible  for  them  to  play  thus  together 
without  loss  of  temper. 

After  this  throw  there  was  some  waiting,  and  then  the 
wrestling  recommenced  ; but  although 
there  was  some  good  practice,  no  one 
was  actually  thrown.  There  was  inter- 
vention in  every  case. 

There  is  another  game  much  played 
by  the  boys  on  the  upper  river.  Various 
beans  and  seeds  are  pierced,  and  are 
mounted  on  a splinter  of  wood  as  tee- 
totums. Two  players  will  provide 
themselves  with  a teetotum  each,  and 
spin  them  together.  The  player  whose 
teetotum  is  thrown  out  by  that  of  his 
playmate,  loses.  They  gamble  in  this 
way  on  the  upper  river  for  brass  rods 
and  food  ; it  is  no  uncommon  sight 
to  see  boys  staking  the  provision  for  the 
next  meal  over  the  play  ; they  will  sit 
playing  the  game  with  a number  of 
plantains  for  stakes.  As  a good  smooth 
table  is  a sine  qua  non^  they  will  make 
a small  table  of  earth,  and  stretch  a 
plantain  leaf  upon  it,  and  thus  secure 
an  excellent  surface.  When  not  in  use, 
a boy  often  carries  his  teetotum  by 
passing  its  foot  through  a hole  in  the 
lobe  of  his  ear. 

The  currency  at  Yakusu  is  of  an  inter- 
esting character.  The  unit  is  a piece 
of  fish-net  of  a standard  size.  Three  of 
these  are  equal  to  a conventional  iron 
spear-head,  called  a shoka.  The  shoka 
would  require  some  working  to  convert 

it  into  a real  spear-head  ; but  it  represents  a certain  definite 
quantity  .of  well-worked  iron,  and  as  such  has  its  own  specific 
value.  There  are  double  shokas,  and  five-shoka  pieces,  and 


NGISELE,  A PIECE  OF 
IRON  CURRENCY 
SIX  FEET  LONG 


SAKUENT  SIATION 


PROGRESS  ON  THE  UPPER  RIVER:  1S90-9  295 


there  is  also  the  great  ngbele,  which  is  really  like  a spear- 
head, but  for  the  fact  that  it  is  six  feet  long.  Ten  of  these 
would  buy  a canoe  thirty-five  to  forty  feet  long.  These,  then, 
constitute  the  Lokele  currency.  Copper  bracelets  and  beads 
show  that  copper  mines  are  worked  somewhere  in  the  wide 
district. 

The  story  of  our  work  on  the  upper  river  has,  so  far,  been 
told.  It  is  a story  of  the  beginnings  of  things  ; the  work  is 
all  too  new  for  it  to  be  possible  to  tell  of  large  ingatherings 
to  the  fold  of  Christ.  The  firstfruits  have  been  brought  in, 
an  earnest  of  future  blessing ; there  must,  however,  be  the 
patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  without  which  we  cannot 
hope  to  be  rewarded. 

The  field  is  wide,  and  the  possibilities  of  extension  are  very 
great ; the  great  Mobangi  and  other  affluents  are  still  un- 
touched ; there  is  a wide  country  to  be  evangelized  between 
the  Congo  and  Lake  Albert  Edward  ; there  are  also  the 
upper  reaches  of  the  Congo  itself.  There  is  room  for  expan- 
sion far  beyond  the  e.xtent  of  our  means  in  new  fields,  and 
in  all  the  forms  of  work  ; in  Gospel  preaching,  schools,  itinera- 
tions, industrial  teaching,  &c.  ‘ The  harvest  is  plenteous, 

but  the  labourers  are  few.  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest,  that  He  send  forth  labourers  into  His  harvest.’ 


MBUMIiA  OF  MPUTU 


CHAPTER  V 

DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 

‘ My  word  . . . shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which 
I please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I sent  it.’ — Is.aiah  Iv.  ii. 

It  now  remains  to  note  the  developments  of  the  work  in 
the  regions  between  Stanley  Pool  and  the  sea,  and  at  San 
Salvador  and  Zombo,  bringing  the  story  up  to  date  (1899). 

San  Salvador. 

With  such  completely  illiterate  people  as  the  Congo  natives 
were  when  we  first  came  to  them,  our  second  great  duty  was 
to  teach  them  to  read.  The  first  duty  was  to  sow  broadcast 
the  good  seed  of  the  Kingdom,  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  But  for  a truly  healthful  development  of  the  work, 
there  must  be  not  only  the  spoken  word,  but  also  the  written 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION : 18S7-99  297 


Word.  A translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  ‘ such  a tongue  as 
the  people  understandeth  ’ is  a great  necessity  ; but  that  again 
presupposes  a reading  people.  Whatever  may  be  the  views 
adopted  as  to  the  Avisdom  of  devoting  missionary  energy  and 
funds  to  educational  work  in  other  fields,  in  Africa  such  work 
is  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  must  go  hand  in  hand  with 
the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel.  Unless  the  missionaries 
establish  schools,  the  people  must  go  ignorant — ignorant  to 
a large  extent  of  the  Scriptures,  and  ignorant  of  much  that 
would  fit  them  for  higher  knowledge  and  development.  School 
work  has  therefore  been  carried  on  at  all  our  stations  and 
outposts.  It  has  been  truly  said,  that  the  young  are  the  hope 
of  Africa  ; but  while  that  must  be  true,  we  are  not  justified  in 
despairing  even  of  those  who  are  old,  steeped  in  sin,  cruelty, 
and  superstition.  We  have  on  our  Church  rolls  the  names  of 
those  who  have  been  converted  after  reaching  sixty  years  of 
age ; and  there  is  a large  number  ot  middle-aged  folk  who 
have  been  brought  to  Christ  from  among  the  heathen. 

The  Christian  Church  was  formed  at  San  Salvador  on 
December  4,  1887 — eight  years  after  our  first  arrival.  The 
native  Christians  commenced  at  once  to  form  a fund  for 
evangelistic  work  ; a box  was  placed  at  the  chapel  door,  and 
a regular  collection  was  taken  every  Sunday.  They  did  not 
contribute  money,  for  they  had  none,  but  what  passed  as 
money  in  the  country : the  contents  of  the  box  were  an 
omnium  gatherum  of  beads,  knives,  cloth,  and  barter  stuff  of 
all  kinds.  By  the  middle  of  1888  the  Church  numbered 
seventeen  members.  The  weekly  contributions  had  by  this 
time  grown  into  a considerable  pile,  and  the  question  was 
raised  as  to  the  object  to  which  they  should  be  devoted. 
After  some  consultation  it  was  decided  to  support  an  evange- 
list, one  of  their  own  number,  who  should  spend  his  time  in 
visiting  the  towns  round,  to  preach  to  the  people.  One  of  John 
Hartland’s  personal  boys  was  chosen,  and  he  accepted  the 
charge.  The  funds  were  not  equal  to  his  entire  support,  so 
for  three  days  a week  he  worked  for  the  mission,  and  the  rest 
of  his  time  was  spent  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  Lewis 
made  a tour  with  the  ev'-angelist  through  the  principal  towns 

VOL.  II.  U 


298 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


to  the  south  and  east  of  San  Salvador.  They  were  well 
received,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  their  regular 
visitation.  Besides  this,  the  Church  members  undertook  the 
visitation  of  other  towns  every  Sunday  ; each  had  his  own 
district.  This  work  soon  began  to  bear  fruit. 

Mputu  is  a town  to  the  south-east  of  San  Salvador,  about 
an  hour  and  a half  distant ; the  chief  Mbumba  was  a man  of 
great  influence  in  the  country.  In  the  early  days  of  our 
mission,  the  old  King  of  Congo  and  Mbumba  hated  each 
other  fiercely ; there  were  no  communications  between  the 
two  townships.  Mbumba  was  a man  of  great  energy,  and 
was  feared  by  all  in  his  district.  He  did  not  allow  any  to 
cross  his  will ; his  vengeance  was  swift  and  terrible.  He  was 
very  strict  in  the  etiquette  required  of  all  who  approached 
him.  It  is  considered  very  improper  to  sit  in  the  presence  of 
a great  man,  other  than  with  the  feet  tucked  under  the  thighs, 
‘tailor  fashion.’  To  ease  the  cramped  limbs  by  stretching 
them  out  before  one,  is  a gross  breach  of  decorum  ; any  one 
who  ventured  so  to  do  in  Mbumba’s  presence  was  taken  out. 
and  was  fortunate  if  he  lost  only  an  ear.  We  have  known 
several  great  chiefs  who  would  order  a man  who  sat  carelessly 
to  be  thus  mutilated.  His  own  people  were  much  afraid  of 
him  on  account  of  his  cruel,  murderous  ways ; for  a small 
offence  he  would  kill  them  relentlessly.  He  was  superstitious, 
and  very  ready  to  kill  witches.  Through  his  evil  temper, 
pride,  and  superstition,  his  town  of  several  hundred  people 
was  reduced  to  eighty  or  ninety  souls.  He  was  of  a bellicose 
disposition,  and  forced  the  towns  around  to  join  in  his  wars. 
He  was,  in  fact,  the  terror  of  the  neighbourhood ; his  town 
saw  many  horrible  sights,  his  feet  were  swift  to  shed  blood. 
We  often  heard  of  him,  and  wondered  what  that  fierce  man 
was  like. 

Nlekai,  a ycung  man  who  had  been  well  educated  and 
trained  by  Weeks,  and  had  accompanied  him  to  England, 
was  a member  of  the  Church  ; he  chose  Mputu  as  his  town 
for  visitation.  The  people  liked  his  pleasant  ways,  and 
readily  gathered  to  listen  to  his  teaching;  even  Mbumba 
would  sit  down,  and  hear  of  the  loving  Saviour  who  died 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


299 


for  our  salvation.  Nlekai  was  of  a type  which  he  had  never 
met  before,  he  could  not  understand  his  refinement  and 
agreeable  manner.  He  had  many  talks  with  Nlekai,  and 
wondered  as  he  talked  of  righteousness  and  of  the  judgement 
to  come.  He  consulted  him,  and  admired  his  shrewdness 
and  right-mindedness  ; he  was  certainly  one  of  themselves, 
and  yet  how  different ! So  simple  and  transparent,  and  yet 
not  foolish.  He  conceived  a great  liking  for  Nlekai,  and 
always  heard  him  gladly.  As  he  gathered  week  by  week 
with  his  people,  to  listen  to  the  Gospel  story  and  learn  to 
sing  the  hymns,  Mbumba  began  to  feel  that  if  all  these  things 
were  true,  there  was  a bad  time  coming  for  him.  How  could 
he,  who  had  shed  so  much  blood,  stand  before  the  just  and 
holy  God  to  give  account  for  his  awful  life?  He  felt  the 
weight  of  his  sins,  and  became  very  anxious.  On  one  occasion 
when  Lewis  visited  him,  he  asked,  ‘ But  what  about  the  sins 
of  the  past?  Will  God  pardon  the  wicked  things  of  which 
I have  been  guilty?’  He  earnestly  sought,  and  found  the 
forgiveness  of  his  sins,  and  a marvellous  change  came  over 
him  : the  lion  had  become  a lamb  ! 

The  neighbouring  chiefs  were  astounded.  The  man  who 
had  been  so  hard  and  unreasonable  had  become  gentle  and 
just.  Before,  he  stirred  them  up  to  war,  now  his  efforts  were 
on  the  side  of  peace.  He  had  always  urged  the  killing  of 
witches,  and  was  always  a leading  spirit  in  any  local  witch 
palaver.  Now  he  went  about  to  urge,  with  all  his  power  and 
authority,  that  the  custom  should  be  abandoned  ; they  had 
to  obey,  for  they  had  long  feared  him.  Mbumba  became  the 
talk  of  the  country  ; they  wondered  how  Nlekai  had  tamed 
him,  and  what  sort  of  sorcery  had  been  exercised  upon  the 
man,  to  bring  about  such  a change.  It  was  certainly  Mbumba 
as  far  as  the  body  was  concerned,  but  he  had  a new  heart ! 

Well  might  they  wonder,  and  so  did  the  missionaries  even. 
It  seemed  too  wonderful  and  good  to  be  true.  He  wished 
to  be  baptized.  Lewis  and  his  colleagues,  Graham  and 
Phillips,  felt  that  they  must  be  careful,  and  in  no  hurry 
with  so  prominent  and  notorious  a man  ; but  his  sincerity 
was  unmistakable,  and  although  his  awful  past  was  a very 

U 2 


300 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


sad  memory  to  him,  yet  he  realized  that  the  blood  of  Jesus 
cleanses  us  from  all  sin,  even  such  crimes  as  his.  His  period 
of  probation  was  somewhat  extended,  but  in  due  course  he 
was  baptized  with  several  of  his  people.  Ever  since  he  has 
lived  a consistent  Christian  life,  and  has  done  much  to  further 
the  Gospel  in  his  district.  He  is  now  an  old  man,  but  is  able 
to  take  a long  journey  in  a good  cause.  He  is  a remarkable 
instance  of  the  miracle  of  conversion,  and  of  the  power  of  the 
grace  of  God.  His  people  were  delighted  at  the  change  which 
had  come  over  their  once  cruel  chief ; they  destroyed  all  their 
fetishes  more  than  ten  years  ago.  Mbumba’s  conversion  has 
brought  about  a great  change  in  his  district ; and  a good 
number  have  been  baptized  at  Mputu, 
and  in  the  towns  round.  School  work  is 
also  being  carried  on. 

To  the  south  and  south-east  of  San 
Salvador  stretches  a wide  district,  called 
Madimba.  Witch  palavers  and  many 
evil  practices  could  no  longer  be  accom- 
plished at  San  Salvador,  because  of  the 
presence  of  the  white  men ; but  away 
in  Madimba  these  things  could  go  on, 
and  never  be  heard  by  the  white  men  at 
the  capital.  The  missionaries  felt  that  it 
was  desirable  that  some  work  should  be 
commenced  in  that  direction.  Accordingly,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis 
made  an  itineration  in  the  district  in  August,  1888,  with 
Matoko,  and  the  evangelist  of  the  Church.  In  some  towns 
the  people  were  very  unfriendly ; in  some  they  would  not 
even  return  the  customary  salutation.  They  visited  Mfutila, 
the  king’s  nephew,  who  succeeded  him  on  his  death  two  years 
and  a half  later ; he  was  very  friendly,  and  wished  to  be 
visited  whenever  it  was  possible.  Three  hours  beyond  was 
Lovo,  the  town  of  Lewis’s  boy,  Elembe,  where  there  was 
another  hearty  welcome.  On  the  Sunday  200  people  gathered 
to  listen  to  God’s  message.  Afterwards,  Mrs.  Lewis  invited 
the  women  to  gather  round  her,  and  talked  to  them  for  some 
time.  If  a boy  from  a town  has  been  in  one  of  our  station 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  18S7-99 


301 


schools  for  a while,  there  is  nearly  always  a hearty  welcome 
in  his  town. 

In  one  town,  further  on,  the  men  of  the  place  were  away 
helping  a neighbour  who  was  at  war.  The  chief  was  much 
afraid,  and  dared  not  show  himself  until  he  had  sent  for  his 
warriors.  When  they  came,  he  ventured  to  show  himself 
with  his  armed  men.  With  some  difficulty  he  was  persuaded 
to  sit  on  a mat  near  Lewis,  and  his  mind  was  a little  more 
at  rest  after  a chat  with  him.  In  the  evening,  when  the 
moon  came  out,  he  gathered  his  people  to  hear  Lewis  preach. 
In  the  morning  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  that  nothing 
had  happened  during  the  night,  and  that  the  carriers  had 
been  well  behaved  ; Lewis  might  visit  him  again  if  he  liked. 
So  they  progressed,  making  friends  with  the  people,  and 
opening  the  district  for  evangelistic  work. 

At  one  town,  Etoto,  they  were  very  well  received  ; the 
chief  placed  at  their  disposal  a house  built  of  planks  instead 
of  grass.  There  were  about  ninety  houses  in  the  town. 
Lewis,  Matoko,  and  the  evangelist,  felt  that  Etoto  was  just 
the  place  in  which  to  start  new  work.  After  a while  they 
approached  the  chief  on  the  subject,  and  had  some  difficulty 
in  making  him  understand  that  they  were  in  real  earnest ; 
it  seemed  to  be  too  good.  It  was  decided  to  leave  the 
evangelist  there.  Two  of  the  elder  scholars  were  sent  over 
from  San  Salvador  to  help  in  the  building  of  the  evangelist’s 
house,  and  some  good  work  was  done.  The  Church  at  San 
Salvador  took  a great  interest  in  this,  their  new  undertaking ; 
and  after  a while  the  work  was  carried  on  by  relays  of  Church 
members  who  went  to  stay  there,  two  at  a time,  for  a month 
each,  without  any  payment.  A senior  scholar  from  the  San 
Salvador  school  conducted  school  in  the  town,  attended  by 
twenty-five  to  thirty  boys. 

The  work  was  carried  on  until,  in  1891,  one  of  the  advanced 
scholars  of  the  Etoto  school,  who  had  been  transferred  to 
San  Salvador  for  further  teaching,  was  accidentally  shot  and 
killed  by  a boy  from  another  district.  The  Etoto  people 
demanded  that  the  unfortunate  boy  who  had  caused  the 
accident  should  be  killed.  The  Portuguese  Resident  inter- 


KTO'ITJ 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION:  1HS7-99  303 


vened,  and  sent  the  boy  to  Loanda  for  trial,  well  assured 
that  it  was  an  accident ; he  was  a long  while  in  prison  there, 
and  eventually  returned,  when  the  excitement  had  cooled 
down.  The  Etoto  people  were  so  angry  that  there  had  not 
been  a life  for  a life,  that  they  threatened  reprisals  upon  the 
San  Salvador  people,  and  it  became  necessary  to  abandon 
the  outpost  for  a while.  After  nearly  three  years  it  was 
reopened. 

In  1892  another  such  outpost  was  started  at  Mawunze, 
about  twenty-four  miles  to  the  north-east  of  San  Salvador, 
where  a good  work  has  been  done.  There  are  others  at 
Kimpesi,  an  hour  from  Mputu,  and  elsewhere.  In  some  towns 
the  work  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Church  members  with- 
out any  pay.  In  some  towns  the  preaching  has  resulted  in 
conversions  ; and  after  a start  given,  the  people  have  main- 
tained schools  themselves,  the  most  advanced  scholar  helping 
the  others,  and  very  remarkable  results  have  followed. 

Our  old  friend  Ntotela  slowly  changed  in  his  demeanour 
towards  us.  The  constant  pressure  of  the  Portuguese  priests, 
and  his  fear  of  deposition  and  disgrace  if  he  showed  much 
favour  to  us,  made  him  cool  toward  us  ; at  the  same  time 
he  affected  more  of  state.  Comber  was  pained  at  the  change 
which  had  come  over  him  in  the  end  of  1886.  I had  noticed 
the  same  in  1888,  although  he  did  melt  towards  me  to  some 
extent.  The  poor  old  man  was  indeed  to  be  pitied  ; it  was 
as  he  said — we  had  taught  him,  and  he  heard  us  gladly ; the 
priests  came  with  force  behind  them,  and  taught  him  to  pray 
to  the  Virgin  Mary.  What  was  he  to  do  ? He  would  do  both, 
pray  direct,  and  pray  to  the  Virgin,  and  God  would  accept 
him,  and  punish  those  who  misled  him.  At  one  time  in 
1888  the  pressure  became  so  great  that  the  king,  in  a fit 
of  desperation,  ordered  our  Christian  people,  and  those  who 
attended  our  services  and  wished  to  follow  our  teaching, 
to  build  a separate  town  elsewhere,  and  to  leave  the  old 
town  to  those  who  favoured  the  priests.  Our  friends  begged 
leave  ‘to  drink  water,’  i.e.  take  time  to  consider  the  matter. 
They  replied  after  a day  or  two,  that  the  king  was  their  king, 
how  could  they  leave  him?  God  Him.self  taught  them  in  His 


304 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  ' 


Word  to  honour  the  king,  and  to  love  one  another  ; this  they 
desired  to  do,  and  they  could  not  think  of  dividing  the  town. 
The  king  was  pleased  with  their  answer,  and  the  matter 
dropped. 

In  1891  the  king  became  seriously  ill,  and  on  February  14 
he  died  of  apoplexy.  Graham  wrote  at  the  time : ‘ We  had 
seen  him  several  times  during  his  illness,  and  sometimes  were 
able  to  speak  of  spiritual  things.  He  was  glad  to  hear  us, 
but  as  far  as  we  could  judge  seemed  little  affected  ; however, 
it  is  well  to  remember  that  we  do  not  know  what  the  end 
was,  and  we  must  leave  him  with  Him  who  cannot  err.’ 

Certainly  our  mission  has  cause  to  think  of  him  kindly. 
He  helped  us  to  the  best  of  his  power  in  the  early  days  ; 
he  might  have  given  us  a great  deal  of  trouble  by  greedy 
demands,  but  he  knew  that  we  were  God’s  servants,  and  that 
we  had  come  to  do  His  work.  His  fear  of  God,  and  this 
thought,  restrained  him. 

The  king  was  not  buried  for  many  months,  but  four  or  five 
weeks  after  his  death  all  the  chiefs  of  the  district  came 
together,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Portuguese  resident,  to 
elect  a new  king.  Mbumba  of  Mputu,  the  story  of  whose 
conversion  has  been  related,  had  a certain  claim  to  the  throne, 
and  was  the  head  of  a very  powerful  clan  ; but  for  the  change 
of  his  own  heart,  and  the  new  circumstances  at  San  Salvador, 
there  would  probably  have  been  some  fighting.  It  was 
decided  unanimously,  however,  that  Mfutila,  the  late  king’s 
nephew,  should  be  king,  and  Mbumba  should  be  Nosso 
Principe — in  Kongo,  Noso  Mpidishipi — -a  title  equivalent  to 
prime  minister.  So  the  matter  was  settled  amicably,  and 
the  Resident  confirmed  their  choice,  and  appointments. 

The  new  king  was  a heathen  man,  who  would  have  over- 
thrown all  the  work  which  had  been  done ; if  he  had  been 
able,  he  would  have  driven  out  the  Portuguese,  and  all  the 
missionaries.  He  was  an  altogether  bad  man,  superstitious, 
greedy,  cruel,  mean  and  reactionary. 

Soon  after  his  accession  to  power  he  attempted  a cotip 
d'etat.  He  called  together  the  chiefs  and  people  from  the 
whole  district.  More  than  1,000  chiefs  and  their  retainers 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


305 


obeyed  ; they  came  armed  with  flint-lock  guns.  It  is  uncer- 
tain whether  all  or  any  knew  of  what  was  intended.  They 
discussed  for  many  days  the  new  state  of  things  which  had 
been  inaugurated  in  the  country ; the  restraining  force  of  the 
Portuguese,  the  prohibition  to  kill  witches,  and  other  like 
disagreeable  civilized  laws  which  had  been  promulgated. 

Mfutila  felt  that  the  new  regime  was  intolerable ; it  was 

.secretly  urged  that  decisive  action  should  be  taken.  They 
sent  word  to  the  Resident  that  he  should  go  to  them,  and  learn 
their  will  as  to  the  government  of  the  country.  The  inten- 
tion was  to  use  their  opportunity,  assassinate  the  Resident, 
and  attack  and  drive  out  the  others.  The  Resident  was 
probably  informed  of  the  trend  of  things,  and  sent  a reply 
that  it  was  not  customary  for  a Portuguese  Resident  to  wait 
on  the  natives  in  that  way  ; but  the  proper  way  would  be  for 
them  to  visit  him  the  next  morning  ; he  would  then  explain 

to  them  fully  the  laws  which  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the 

country,  and^which  he  intended  to  enforce.  He  begged  them 
to  have  no  apprehension  in  so  coming,  for  he  would  keep  his 
soldiers  (there  were  only  eight  or  ten)  shut  up  in  their 
barracks  ; no  one  should  do  them  any  harm. 

This  method  of  talking  to  the  1,000  armed  men  was  very 
disconcerting  to  them  ; it  suggested  unknown  resources. 
Instead  of  being  cowed,  the  Resident  had  replied  as  though  he 
were  master  of  the  situation.  The  Portuguese  are  very  good 
at  this  sort  of  thing.  Soon  after  their  arrival  at  San  Salvador, 
the  chief  of  a town  near  the  road,  two  hours  and  a half  away, 
sent  the  Resident  two  bullets,  and  the  message  that  he  was 
going  to  attack  him  in  two  days’  time.  He  replied,  urging 
the  chief  to  attack  by  all  means,  and  sent  him  a couple  of 
barrels  of  powder  to  help  him,  inquiring  politely  whether  he 
needed  any  more  guns.  This  sort  of  thing  takes  the  heart 
out  of  an  African : he  is  bewildered  by  it.  The  barrels  were 
returned,  for  fear  that  an  exorbitant  price  would  be  levied  for 
them,  and  the  intended  fight  was  declared  ‘ off.’ 

At  the  appointed  time  Mfutila  and  his  crowd  of  1,000  men 
appeared  before  the  residency,  and  were  requested  to  spread 
their  mats  in  the  shade.  They  sat  down,  their  loaded  guns 


3o6 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


resting  on  their  shoulders  ; every  one  wondered  what  was 
going  to  happen,  and  at  what  point  Mfutila  would  give  the 
word.  At  such  times  one’s  heaid  or  something  has  a way  of 
coming  up  into  one’s  throat.  Just  as  they  were  seating  them- 
selves comfortably,  some  one  discovered  that  he  was  sitting 
on  a sharp  root,  and  wriggled  a little  aside,  the  better  to 
accommodate  his  anatomy.  In  doing  so  his  gun  slipped  ; in 
clutching  it,  he  accidentally  touched  the  trigger  ; the  gun 
went  off,  and  the  slugs  broke  the  arm  of  a man  sitting  behind 
him.  Every  one  jumped  up  and  bolted,  and  in  half  a minute 
there  was  only  the  wounded  man  to  be  seen.  When  the  dust 
cleared,  the  Resident  coolly  inquired  what  had  happened.  The 
wounded  man  was  taken  to  our  mission  to  be  cared  for. 

The  people  were  with  difficulty  gathered  together  again. 
When  they  did  muster,  it  was  with  the  feeling  that  no  one 
could  trust  the  others  to  stand  by  him  in  any  act  of  violence. 
The  Resident  told  them  very  straightly  what  he  would  have, 
and  what  not,  laying  down  the  law  wisely  but  firmly.  The 
native  chiefs  accepted  the  situation,  and  probably  felt  that  if 
the  new  regime  had  its  inconveniences,  it  had  also  its  advan- 
tages, and  one  result  would  be  a great  increase  of  security  to 
life  and  property.  So  a great  crisis  came  and  passed ; a 
gracious  Providence  protected  our  mission  and  the  work  from 
the  forces  of  evil  which  would  have  wrecked  everything,  and 
extinguished  the  light  which  had  begun  to  shine  in  the 
darkness. 

The  old  king,  Nlotela,  Dom  Pedro  V.,  was  duly  enshrouded, 
and  Mfutila  was  very  strong  in  insisting  that  all  his  prede- 
cessor’s wealth  should  be  buried  with  him.  Three  days  after 
his  death  Phillips  wrote  : ‘ The  body  of  the  king  is  partially 
wrapped  up,  and  at  present  it  is  hard  work  for  ten  men  to  lift 
it.  All  the  uniforms  and  expensive  clothes  given  by  the  King 
of  Portugal,  with  the  exception  of  a scarlet  gold-braided  coat, 
were  put  on  the  body,  to  say  nothing  of  cloths  and  a dozen 
frock  coats.’  Much  of  the  shroud  was  not  put  on  until  near 
to  the  time  of  burial ; then  the  cloth  which  we  had  given  him 
in  the  early  days  was  brought  out,  and  old  cloths  of  patterns 
and  styles  long  forgotten,  which  had  been  hoarded  from  the 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


2P1 


times  before  he  was  made  king,  all  was  brought  out  and  used 
as  his  shroud.  Nothing  was  saved  but  the  royal  coat  and 
robe  and  the  silver  ware  ; these  were  considered  to  be  crown 
property,  and  not  to  be  buried.  Mfutila  would  have  included 
those  things  as  well,  but  the  people  would  not  allow  it. 

This  loyalty  and  ungrudging  faithfulness  in  burying  a man’s 
property  has  an  air  of  noblesse  about  it ; but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  if  Mfutila  had  tampered  with  his  pre- 
decessor’s belongings,  his  successor  would  have  done  the 
same  when  his  own  turn  came  to  be  enshrouded.  So,  to 


NEW  MISSION  CHAPEL  IN  liUILDING,  SAN  SALVADOR 


ensure  a royal  funeral  for  himself,  he  had  to  be  honest,  and 
affect  the  greatest  horror  at  the  idea  of  withholding  anything. 
Mfutila  and  his  people  would  have  liked  to  keep  the  body  for 
a long  while,  in  order  to  accumulate  more  cloth  for  the 
shroud  and  funeral  festivities  ; but  the  Resident  would  not 
have  the  burial  put  off  indefinitely,  and  insisted  upon  a 
comparatively  early  date.  An  immense  crowd  gathered 
for  the  interment. 

Mfutila  had  much  less  of  the  kingly  quality  than  his 
predeces.sor.  Mean,  cruel,  avariciou.s,  and  wicked,  he  was 


3o8 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


heartily  disliked  by  his  people.  In  1894  he  was  sufifering 
from  a very  painful  disorder,  and  finding  no  relief  elsewhere, 
he  came  to  Wathen  to  ask  Dr.  Webb  to  treat  him.  He 
stayed  with  us  for  two  months,  and  went  away  no  better ; 
but  there  was  no  ground  for  surprise  in  that.  Before  he 
left  San  Salvador  he  asked  Lewis  to  write  him  a letter 
commending  him  to  our  care.  Lewis  did  so ; but  when 
Mfutila  received  the  letter,  he  could  not  read  it  on  the  way, 
as  he  would  have  wished  to  do.  We  allowed  him  to  stay 
in  a room  in  the  store,  beside  the  dispensary,  and  Dr.  Webb 
tried  to  do  his  best  for  him.  The  king’s  wicked  heart 
suggested  that  as  he  had  not  been  friendly  to  our  mission, 
it  was  probable  that  Lewis,  in  his  letter,  had  asked  us  to  kill 
him.  He  therefore  feared  to  drink  his  medicine.  When  he 
left,  we  learned  that  he  had  never  taken  his  medicine,  unless 
one  of  us  happened  to  be  present  when  it  was  sent  in  to 
him  ; so  that  in  the  two  months  he  had  taken  but  very  few 
doses.  Again  and  again  he  asked  me  the  contents  of  the 
letter  which  Lewis  wrote,  and  as  often  I told  him.  He  had 
some  kindly  feeling  towards  me,  and  often  I went  to  talk 
with  him.  I had  visited  him  in  his  own  town  in  Madimba  in 
1880,  and  my  medicine  had  been  the  means  of  his  restoration 
to  health  and  strength.  On  one  occasion  at  Wathen  we  were 
talking  of  the  old  times,  fourteen  years  before,  and  the  two 
intelligent  young  relatives  of  his  who  then  lived  with  him,  but 
were  long  since  dead ; he  burst  into  tears  at  the  memories 
raised  and  wept  like  a child.  I hoped  that  some  softening 
influences  might  be  working  in  his  heart,  but  was  disappointed. 
On  his  return  to  San  Salvador,  the  Portuguese  Resident  sent 
him  to  Lisbon ; there  he  had  to  drink  his  medicine,  and 
recovered  for  a while. 

In  1896  the  king  and  another  chief  in  Madimba  made  some 
charges,  believed  to  be  false,  against  another  chief,  for  a 
pretext  to  fall  upon  him,  and  rob  him  and  his  people  of 
their  goods  and  property.  With  guile,  lies,  and  false  oaths 
they  captured  their  man,  and  carried  away  everything  that 
he  had,  as  well  as  things  belonging  to  his  people.  They  had 
no  sooner  done  this  than  the  king’s  accomplice  was  suddenly 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887^99 


309 


taken  ill,  and  died  within  a day  or  two.  The  king  became 
uneasy,  and  returned  in  haste  to  San  Salvador.  He  himself 
became  very  ill,  and  died  on  November  18,  1896. 

Once  more  the  question  arose  as  to  whether  Nosso 
(Mbumba)  should  succeed  him  ; but  as  he  was  a Protestant 
he  could  not  be  acceptable  to  the  official  Portuguese.  A young 
man  named  Henrique  Nteye-kenge  Kondwa  was  appointed  his 
successor,  and  he  is  the  present  king.  Nominis  umbra. 

1892  was  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of 
the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  The  Christian  people  of  San 
Salvador  wished  to  add  their  offerings  to  the  centennial  gifts 
which  were  being  sent  in  to  the  Society ; a collection  was 
made,  and  barter  and  money  were  given  to  the  local  value  of 
;^33  14J.  2,d. ; this  was  sent  home  in  December,  1891.  During 
1892  the  membership  of  the  native  Church  had  grown  to 
forty-seven.  New  seats  were  wanted  for  their  chapel,  and 
once  more  a collection  was  made.  They  raised  £^o  at  the 
local  value  of  barter  stuff,  and  paid  all  the  expenses  of  seating 
the  chapel. 

In  1893  the  Congo  Railway  Company  brought  out  a number 
of  Chinese  to  help  in  constructing  the  line.  The  climate  did 
not  suit  them,  and  a great  number  of  them  died.  The  greater 
part  of  the  survivors  ran  away  into  the  Portuguese  possessions, 
and  about  twenty  reached  San  Salvador.  The  people  had 
heard  of  the  Chinese,  for  they  knew  that  Dixon,  one  of  their 
own  missionaries,  had  been  transferred  to  China  when  his 
health  broke  down  on  the  Congo.  The  advent  of  these 
runaway  Chinese  quickened  in  the  hearts  of  the  Congos 
a great  interest  in  mission  work  in  China  ; they  collected 
;^’i5  4s.  (cash  value),  and  sent  it  as  a donation  in  aid  of 
Dixon’s  work  in  China. 

Since  then  the  San  Salvador  people  have  been  busy  with 
building  a fine  stone  chapel.  For  five  years  they  have  been 
collecting  money  for  this  purpose.  The  foundation  stones 
were  laid  on  April  ii,  1898,  amid  great  rejoicings.  There 
were  some  useful  flat  stones  in  the  brook  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  and  it  was  requested  that  every  one  who  came  to  the 
laying  of  the  stone  should  bring  a stone.  On  the  morning  in 


NEW  CIFAPEI.,  SAN  SALVADOR,  COMPLETED 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99  311 


question,  when  the  bell  rang,  the  women  and  girls  first  came 
in  a troop  bearing  stones  and  offerings,  afterwards  came  the 
men  and  boys,  each  with  his  stone,  until  some  500  were 
present.  Mrs.  Lewis  and  Mrs.  Phillips  laid  two  memorial 
stones.  Prayers  and  addresses  followed,  and  so  the  work 
was  commenced.  Barter  has  been  contributed  for  the  purpose, 
which  amounts  to  nearly  £^00.  The  chapel  measures  inside 
70x37  feet.  The  walls  are  built  with  haematite  iron-stone 
from  the  ruins  of  the  old  city  wall  and  the  stones  of  the  house 
which  we  built  in  1880.  The  wood-work  is  of  native  wood, 
with  the  exception  of  the  window  sashes.  The  roof  is  covered 
with  galvanized  iron  sheets.  All  this  is  paid  for  by  the 
natives.  The  platform,  baptistery,  and  desk  are  the  gift  of 
the  San  Salvador  missionaries,  in  memory  of  their  colleagues 
who  worked  there  and  have  died.  The  chapel  took  eighteen 
months  to  build,  and  the  natives  who  built  it  under  Lewis’s 
direction  are  justly  proud  of  their  work.  The  chapel  was 
opened  by  services  on  September  16-18,  1899.  A thousand 
people  gathered  to  them,  the  average  attendances  being  800. 
The  building  of  so  fine  a chapel  with  local  materials  was 
a fine  industrial  training  for  the  people,  and  does  great  credit 
to  Lewis. 

In  1885  Mr.  Josiah  Wade,  of  Halifax,  presented  us  with 
a very  complete  printing  press  and  plant,  to  be  known  as 
the  Edwin  Wade  Press ; it  was  first  set  up  at  Underhill, 
where  Scrivener  was  for  some  years  in  charge  of  it.  When 
he  was  transferred  to  the  upper  river,  the  Underhill  Press  was 
sent  to  San  Salvador.  A little  later,  Mr.  Wade  gave  the 
other  press  for  the  upper  river,  which  has  been  mentioned 
already.  Mr.  Wade’s  gifts  have  rendered  most  useful  service 
to  our  mission,  and  have  turned  out  a great  deal  of  work, 
especially  of  late.  Since  1896  Phillips  has  been  superintending 
the  press  work  g,t  San  Salvador,  and  is  publishing  a monthly 
magazine,  Ngonde  ya  Ngonde,  ‘ month  by  month,’  which  is 
now  well  on  in  its  third  year.  It  has  a circulation  of  250  per 
month.  Each  number  contains  portions  of  translations  of  the 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  by  Lewis ; the  Holy  War,  by  Phillips 
and  Dr.  Newman  Hall’s  Follow  Jesus,  by  Nekaka,  a native  ; 


312 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


also  other  matter  of  interest.  The  translations  of  the  three 
books  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  complete,  and  the  books  will 
soon  be  printed.  Meanwhile  they  are  being  read  in  the  serial 
form. 

All  departments  of  the  work  have  been  vigorously  carried 
on  ; since  the  formation  of  the  Christian  Church  at  San 
Salvador  in  1887,  some  200  natives  have  been  gathered 
into  fellowship,  thirty-five  have  died,  and  in  June,  1899,  there 
were  145  names  on  the  Church  roll.  There  are  four  outposts, 
in  each  of  which  a native  evangelist  and  his  wife  is  supported 
by  the  Church.  At  seven  other  places  voluntary  work  is  being 
carried  on  by  the  natives,  and  schools  are  held  regularly  there 
also.  In  January,  1899,  there  were  in  the  station  and  the 
outpost  school  some  327  boys  and  256  girls,  a total  of  583 
children  under  instruction.  The  average  attendance  is  not 
far  below  the  register  numbers.  Sabbath-school  work  is  also 
carried  on,  433  being  in  attendance. 

Three  of  our  number  lie  buried  at  San  Salvador : Mrs. 
Comber,  who  died  in  the  early  days,  in  1879  ; Wilkinson  ten 
years  later.  After  another  ten  years,  Mrs.  Phillips  was  called 
away,  and  is  buried  in  the  public  cemetery  there. 

It  is  impossible  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  the 
work  carried  on  by  the  missionary  ladies  at  San  Salvador. 
Mrs.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Graham,  and  Mrs.  Phillips,  have  worked 
hard  among  the  girls  and  women  of  the  town,  and  have 
exercised  a great  influence  for  good  in  every  way.  A large 
number  of  women,  old  and  young,  are  members  of  the 
Church,  and  their  training  and  teaching,  apart  from  the 
regular  services,  has  been  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  ladies  ; 
in  school  work  and  special  classes  they  have  been  inde- 
fatigable. What  would  the  mission  have  been  without  them  ? 

Mrs.  Phillips  was  a very  earnest  worker,  who  was  greatly 
loved  by  all  the  women-folk  ; they  felt  her  loss  very  keenly. 
Her  influence  will  long  be  a power  in  the  country.  For 
a week  Mrs.  Phillips  was  feeling  unwell,  then  four  days  of 
fever,  and  on  April  26,  1899,  she  died.  Mrs.  Lewis  wrote: 
‘ If  you  could  have  heard  the  prayers  offered  by  the  women 
this  evening — prayers  for  the  friends  at  home,  for  us  who  are 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


3«3 


left,  and  for  themselves  in  their  sad  loss — you  would  have 
felt,  as  I did,  that  our  work  has  not  been  in  vain,  and  that 
Congo  women  are  priceless  jewels  to  be  won  for  the  Saviour’s 
crown.’ 

San  Salvador  has  seen  wonderful  changes.  We  found  its 
people  twenty  years  ago  in  heathen  barbarity  ; poor,  only 
a few  wore  European  cloth,  the  rest  were  dressed  in  native 
cloth.  Now  the  people  have  contributed  £^co  to  build 
their  own  chapel,  and  a Christian  Church  is  gathered  of 
145  members,  supporting  their  own  evangelists  and  active 
in  Christian  work. 


Underhill  Station. 

Our  base  station  at  Underhill — Tunduwa,  as  the  natives 
call  it — has  been  mentioned  from  time  to  time.  It  was 
built  on  a rocky  headland  200  feet  above  the  river.  The 
river  is  less  than  half  a mile  wide  just  above  the  point ; the 
current  sometimes  flows  through  the  constriction  at  the  speed 
of  ten  miles  an  hour.  Opposite  the  point  is  a deep  bay  in 
which  the  water  seethes  and  swirls,  gaining  for  it  the  name 
of  Hell’s  Cauldron.  On  the  further  side  a red  cliff  rises 
350  feet  sheer  from  the  water,  and  the  hills  rise  behind  it 
to  800  and  I coo  feet  and  more  beyond.  The  view  extends 
five  miles  down  river  to  the  hills  about  Noki,  and  seven  miles 
above  to  the  heights  of  Vivi.  Behind  the  station,  the  hills 
are  piled  one  on  the  other  to  nearly  1,800  feet  ; the  top  is 
really  the  old  main  level  of  the  country,  all  below  is  the  gorge 
rent  out  by  the  fierce  flood,  as  the  waters  of  the  inland  sea 
made  their  way  to  the  ocean.  As  may  be  imagined,  the 
heat  is  great  at  the  foot  of  the  gorge.  The  sun  beats  upon 
the  rocks,  and  makes  them  so  hot  that  they  are  scarcely 
cool  by  the  morning ; so  that  by  night  and  day  the  heat 
is  great.  The  necessity  for  climbing  up  and  down  the 
200  feet  hill  in  the  hot  sun,  to  attend  to  the  unloading  of 
steamers  and  boats,  was  often  very  troublesome. 

Underhill  was  not  built  for  convenience  in  mission  work, 
but  as  a base  station  for  the  supply  of  the  mission,  at  the 
highest  point  which  the  steamers  of  the  time  could  reach. 

VOL.  II.  X 


3H 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


In  June,  1889,  it  was  discovered  that  the  ocean-going  steamers 
could  make  their  way  through  the  shallows  and  sandbanks 
to  Boma,  and  stem  the  stronger  currents  beyond,  right  up 
to  Matadi.  Until  then  Banana  was  the  port  of  the  Congo, 
and  all  our  goods  were  brought  on  to  our  base  at  the  con- 
venience of  our  friends  the  Dutch  House,  and  in  their  river 
steamers  ; this  latter  service  costing  as  much  as  the  freight 
from  Liverpool  to  Banana.  When  Matadi  became  the  port, 
the  ocean  steamers  delivered  our  goods  there  into  our  own 
boats,  and  so  the  goods  were  conveyed  to  our  stores.  Great 
iron  buildings  were  erected  on  the  top  of  our  hill  to  receive 
these  goods,  and  to  them  came  the  carriers,  who  were  sent 
down  from  San  Salvador  and  Wathen  to  fetch  the  supplies 
up  country.  Four  houses  were  built  for  the  staff  and  to 
accommodate  missionaries  coming  and  going.  For  several 
years  the  station  became  a sort  of  hotel  for  all  the  missions 
working  out  there.  The  American  and  Swedish  Missions 
borrowed  a piece  of  land,  and  set  up  galvanized-iron  stores  on 
the  beach,  and  their  missionaries  coming  and  going  stayed 
with  us  ; so  we  helped  each  other,  and  have  ever  worked  in 
harmony  and  brotherly  love.  Later  on,  the  American  and 
the  Congo  Balolo  Missions  built  at  Matadi,  and  the  'Swedish 
Mission  a mile  above  us,  at  Londe. 

Very  careful  attention  was  necessary  to  keep  a proper 
supply  of  cloth  for  the  payment  of  the  carriers  ; large  stocks 
of  cloth  and  barter  had  to  be  kept,  to  provide  for  the  irregu- 
larities and  ‘ rushes,’  which  were  frequent.  Sometimes  we 
had  to  keep  over  1,000  worth  of  barter  for  this  purpose. 
There  were  times  when,  in  consequence  of  rain  or  fighting 
on  the  road,  carriers  could  not  be  had,  and  the  Underhill 
stories  were  choked  with  supplies  in  transit ; then  with  the 
dry  season,  or  peace,  would  come  a rush  of  carriers,  and  over 
2,000  loads  would  be  carried  in  a few  months.  Had  we 
been  short  of  cloth  then,  the  supplies  might  have  had  to 
wait  another  twelve  months  for  carriers ; and  serious  would 
have  been  the  results  to  the  stations  on  the  upper  river, 
without  food  and  barter.  Each  station  ordered  its  own  goods 
from  the  Liverpool  agent,  and  Wathen  supplied  and  managed 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


315 


the  transport  of  them.  Ferries  had  to  be  arranged  for  and 
paid,  for  many  years,  until  the  State  levied  a tax  of  two 
francs  per  load  from  Matadi  to  Stanley  Pool,  and  managed 
the  ferries  and  bridges  itself. 

There  were  several  standard  cotton-cloths  which  we  had 
always  to  keep  in  stock.  Three  were  especial  favourites : 
an  indigo-blue  drill,  and  a cloth  with  a white  ground  and 
three  or  four  bands  of  blue  stripes  ; also  a piece  of  twelve 
red  bandanna  handkerchiefs.  These  were  the  main  lines  most 
liked ; but  perhaps  the  best  thing  we  had  was  a cotton 
counterpane  in  two  and  three  colours.  It  happened  that 
when  a quarter  of  a dozen  of  cotton  counterpanes  were 
ordered  for  the  visitors’  bedrooms  at 
Underhill,  by  some  mistake  a dozen 
were  sent.  John  Pinnock,  who  has 
attended  to  the  practical  business  of 
the  transport  there  since  1887,  offered 
the  excess  to  some  carriers  ; they  were 
readily  taken,  in  preference  to  cloths  of 
higher  values.  Next  day  there  was  a 
rush  of  men  who  wanted  to  carry  for 
counterpanes.  The  nine  were  ex- 
hausted, but  the  excitement  which  they 
caused  led  Pinnock  to  order  200.  They 
were  quickly  exhausted,  and  were  soon 
known  as  hmdmvds.  After  that  they  were  ordered  by  the 
1,000,  and  drew  great  crowds  of  carriers,  to  the  immense 
benefit  of  our  transport  service. 

Some  of  the  cloth  earned  by  transport  was  worn,  but  the 
greater  part  went  in  providing  funeral  shrouds,  so  that  the 
demand  for  cloth  was  very  great.  Many  a man  was  buried 
in  more  cloth  than  he  had  used  up  in  the  whole  of  his  life. 
But  for  this  custom,  it  would  be  hard  to  know  where  all 
the  cloth  earned  by  the  carriers  went  to.  There  must  have 
been  100,000  men  at  one  time  serving  as  carriers.  But  while 
ordinary  cloth  would  do  for  the  enshroudment,  what  could 
be  more  magnificent  for  the  outermost  cloth  of  all,  than 
one  of  those  cotton  counterpanes,  with  red  and  blue  patterns 

x 2 


3i6 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


on  a white  ground,  and  little  tassels  all  round  ? The  idea 
took  at  once!  It  was  real  splendour!  Henceforward  it 
became  every  man’s  ambition  to  possess  one  of  these  counter- 
panes for  his  own  enshroudment.  They  were  never  worn, 
only  stowed  away  in  the  innermost  cupboards  of  the  native 
houses,  in  preparation  for  the  great  event  of  life — death  ! We 
have  our  weaknesses  as  a nation,  and  certainly  the  Congos 
have  theirs,  and  this  is  the  greatest  of  them.  It  is  not, 
Wherewithal  shall  I be  clothed?  but.  In  what  shall  I be 
buried  ? and  the  answer  to  that  must  be — A counterpane  ! 

The  Congo  Free  State  was  proclaimed  in  July,  18S5.  In 
1886  a party  of  engineers  commenced  a study  of  the  country, 
to  trace  a route  for  the  railway.  The  initial  difficulties  were 
very  great.  Fully  half  of  the  labour  and  expense  of  con- 
struction lay  in  the  first  twenty  miles.  A way  had  to  be 
made  along  the  steep  banks  of  the  Congo  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mpozo  river,  which  was  ascended  for  two  or  three  miles, 
and  then  crossed ; after  that  a long  climb  over  Mpalabala 
Hill  and  down  again.  This  was  the  great  difficulty,  and 
a marvel  of  engineering  skill  it  is.  At  the  twenty-fourth 
mile  a station  was  opened  in  1893,  but  was  little  used.  In 
1 894  a station  was  opened  at  the  thirty-sixth  mile,  east  of 
the  Luvu  river.  The  railway  company  met  us  with  an  offer 
of  free  storage  for  i,oco  loads,  if  we  would  use  the  railway 
to  that  point.  It  was  only  a help  of  thirty-six  miles,  but 
they  were  the  worst  miles  of  the  whole  route,  hilly,  and 
largely  strewn  with  loose  quartz-stones.  We  accepted  the 
offer,  and  the  transport  difficulties  were  appreciably  lessened. 
Carriers  worked  from  Luvu  to  Lukungu  ; Wathen  stores 
being  conveyed  by  another  route  to  the  south. 

In  May,  1896,  the  halfway  station  at  Tumba  was  available, 
and  the  same  storage  accommodation  was  accorded  there, 
so  we  were  able  to  transport  from  that  point  to  Stanley  Pool 
without  any  intermediate  change  of  carriers.  Stephens  took 
up  the  work  there  for  a few  months,  until  Pinnock  and  Pople 
relieved  him  in  December.  In  July,  1898,  the  whole  line 
was  complete,  and  was  officially  declared  open  with  all  due 
ceremony;  Messrs.  Thos.  Cook  & Sons  organized  an  ex- 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


317 


cursion,  and  catered  for  a company  of  100,  including 
Government  delegates  and  other  officials. 

Pople  was  in  charge  at  Tumba  for  four  months  in  1897  : both 
he  and  his  wife  suffered  a great  deal  from  fever  during  the 
time.  This  was  due  very  largely  to  the  fact  that  his  roof  of 
felt  and  wood  had  no  lining,  and  the  wooden  walls  were  not 

screened 


from  the 
sun by any 
verandah; 
the  result 


was  a 
house  in- 
s u ff  e r - 
ably  hot. 


While  in 
a condi- 
tion ex- 
h a u s ted 
with  fever, 
he  was 
attacked 
with  dy- 

sentery,  tumba  and  railway  station 

which  is 

endemic  on  the  upper  river  ; he  succumbed  to  it  on  April  12, 
1897,  after  four  years  of  work  in  connexion  with  the  mission. 
The  work  of  the  base  station  in  those  days  called  for 
a great  deal  of  devotion ; there  could  not  be  much  of  real 
missionary  work.  It  was  largely  a holding  of  the  ropes,  and 
prosaic  maintaining  of  others  who  were  cf-rying  on  the  work 


\ 


3i8 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


Pople  realized  that  his  work  was  as  important  and  necessary  to 
the  general  work  as  was  theirs  who  were  at  the  stations  ; so  he 
struggled  with  the  difficulties,  and  bravely  did  his  part.  He  felt 
that  the  position  at  Tumba  was  temporary;  in  little  more  than 
a year  the  railway  would  be  open  through  to  Stanley  Pool, 
and  he  was  anxious  to  manage  with  a very  simple  house, 
to  avoid  expense  to  the  mission  ; but  the  fierce  sun  was 
inexorable,  and  so  we  lost  a brother  loyal  and  brave,  affec- 
tionate and  ready  to  do  and  to  bear  much  for  the  work  which 
was  so  near  to  his  heart.  Six  weeks  later,  on  May  28,  his 
wife  succumbed  to  puerperal  fever,  leaving  a little  son  three 
weeks  old.  The  child  was  taken  homewards  by  Mrs.  White, 
but  it  died  a few  hours  before  Mr.  White,  and  was  buried  with 
him  at  Mayumba.  So  Tumba  has  its  sad  story  as  well  as 
several  of  the  other  stations. 

The  work  at  Underhill  consisted  very  largely  in  the 
receiving  and  forwarding  of  goods,  but  there  were  also  some 
opportunities  for  missionary  work  which  were  not  neglected. 
The  carriers  coming  to  the  station  in  great  numbers  were 
gathered  to  Gospel  services,  and  those  at  the  trading  houses 
and  the  State  forwarding  offices  were  frequently  visited  and 
addressed.  The  missionaries  of  the  other  societies  united  in 
this  work.  The  railway  brought  great  numbers  of  people 
from  the  West  Coast  to  work  in  various  capacities  ; many  of 
these  people  had  been  more  or  less  under  the  influence 
of  Christian  missions,  and  some  were  members  of  Christian 
Churches.  As  these  increased,  the  various  missions  united  to 
organize  regular  services  for  these  people  in  English,  as  also 
services  in  Kongo  for  the  natives.  The  coast  people  were 
liberally  minded,  and  they  collected  money  until  they 
were  able  to  build  and  seat  their  own  chapel.  There  was 
also  work  to  be  done  on  the  steamers  among  the  sailors,  and 
Lawson  Forfeit!,  who  has  for  nine  years  been  in  charge  of 
our  base  station,  has  kept  himself  well  supplied  with  literature 
suitable  for  the  sailors  and  coast  people.  So  in  a variety  of 
ways  mission  work  has  been  carried  on  at  Underhill  and  at 
Matadi,  although  there  was  no  fixed  native  population  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1SS7-99 


319 


The  seed  has  been  sown,  but  it  has  not  been  lost.  Some 
years  ago  I was  visiting  the  remote  south-western  part  of  my 
district,  and  in  a town  seventy-five  miles  to  the  south  of 
Wathen  I commenced  to  speak  to  the  people,  believing  that 
they  knew  nothing  of  the  Gospel.  A man  interrupted  me  by 
saying,  ‘I  know  all  about  that.’  He  said  that  he  had  heard 
of  the  Saviour  when  at  Matadi,  and  mentioned  especially 
Pinnock  of  our  mission,  and  Harvey  of  the  American  Mission. 
He  had  picked  up  a very  fair  general  idea  of  the  Gospel,  and 
brought  home  to  me  very  forcibly  the  importance  of  the  seed- 
sowing which  was  going  on  at  Matadi  and  Underhill. 

One  of  the  duties  which  devolved  upon  Lawson  Forfeitt,  in 
consequence  of  his  position  at  the  base 
station,  was  that  of  the  secretariat  of 
the  mission.  The  State  required  that 
one  of  our  number,  in  a convenient 
position,  should  serve  as  official  repre- 
sentative of  the  mission  ; with  him  the 
State  could  communicate  in  all  the 
business  matters  of  the  mission,  such 
as  the  collection  of  taxes.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  the  senior  missionary 
at  Underhill  becomes  the  official  re- 
presentative of  the  mission. 

The  completion  of  the  railway  ren- 
dered Underhill,  with  all  its  storehouses  and  conveniences,  no 
longer  necessary.  It  was  too  far  from  the  railway,  and  wild 
strong  water  lay  between.  The  stores  have  disappeared,  and 
the  property  is  to  be  disposed  of  when  opportunity  offers. 
In  the  place  of  it,  Lawson  Forfeitt  is  building  two  or  three 
houses  on  a capital  site  at  Londe,  near  to  the  Sw'edish 
Mission,  and  this  will  become  a new  and  smaller  Underhill 
Station,  from  which  he  will  manage  the  business  affairs  of 
the  mission,  and  entertain  the  home-going  and  arriving  mis- 
sionaries. 

Our  goods  now'  come  out  consigned  to  the  railway 
company,  and  are  by  them  transported  to  Tumba  for 
Wathen,  and  to  Arthington  for  Stanley  Pool  and  the  upper 


320 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


river.  The  rates  are  very  high,  both  for  goods  and  passengers. 
The  single  ticket  from  Matadi  to  Tumba,  114  miles,  costs 
£()  6s.  4d. — ij.  per  mile  ! Everything  else  is  in  propor- 

tion. We  must  hope  that  the  tariff  will  some  day  be  reduced 
to  a figure  more  likely  to  tend  towards  the  development  of 
the  country.  The  rates  on  goods  passing  interiorwards  are 
very  high  on  everything  but  salt : they  amount  to  .£'40  per 
ton  for  the  whole  journey  from  Matadi  to  Stanley  Pool.  The 
tariff  on  raw  produce  coastwards  is  much  more  reasonable. 
This  system  is  specially  heavy  on  the  missions,  for  all  our 
goods  pass  interiorwards,  and  at  the  high  rates.  The  passenger 
trains  run  every  other  day  up,  and  every  other  day  down  ; 
three  each  way  per  week.  They  accomplish  ten  miles  an 
hour,  including  stoppages,  doing  the  114  miles  from  Matadi 
to  Tumba  in  twelve  hours,  and  completing  the  journey  the 
next  day.  There  is  a comfortable  ‘first-class’  carriage  for 
white  people,  and  any  coloured  people  who  can  pay  the  fare. 
Natives  may  travel  on  the  goods  trucks  for  ipj.  for  the  half- 
journey to  Tumba. 

The  railway  is  a fine  piece  of  engineering,  of  which  the 
Belgians  may  justly  be  proud.  The  rails  are  twenty-nine 
and  a half  inches  apart,  and  are  laid  on  iron  sleepers  thirty 
inches  apart ; it  is  250  miles  long.  The  company  is  Belgian, 
its  capital  is  ;£'2,6oo,oco  ; its  receipts  average  £^2,oco  per 
month.  Another  railway  is  in  construction  northward  from 
Boma,  and  others  are  projected. 

Matadi  is  growing  very  fast,  and  will  soon  become  a large 
place.  As  many  as  1,500  people  gather  to  its  market  every 
Sunday,  and  opportunities  for  Christian  work  are  increasing. 
It  is  highly  probable  that  in  a year  or  two  the  importance 
and  opportunities  of  the  place  will  be  such  that,  apart  from 
any  considerations  as  to  a base  station,  it  would  have  to  be 
occupied  ; that  being  the  case,  it  is  with  greater  satisfaction 
that  we  commence  the  erection  of  the  premises  at  the  new 
Underhill  Station,  Londe,  Matadi,  and  we  hope  that  when 
the  time  comes  to  continue  the  present  story,  there  may 
be  as  much  to  tell  of  fruitful  mission  work  at  Underhill 
as  at  the  other  stations ; we  may  well  expect  it. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887^99 


321 


Wathen  Station. 

The  present  Wathen  Station  is  ico  miles  in  a straight 
line  from  Matadi,  seventy  miles  from  Stanley  Pool,  and 
thirty  miles  from  the  railway  station  at  Tumba  ; the  winding 
of  the  native  roads  protracts  these  distances  to  144,  eighty- 
five,  and  forty-five  miles  respectively.  It  is  situated  on 
a water-torn  plateau  1,732  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
The  Congo  river  is  about  three  miles  distant,  flowing  in 
a gorge  more  than  1,000  feet  deep.  It  is  generally  marked 
Lutete  on  the  maps,  after  the  name  of  the  old  chief  of  Ngombe. 

We  have  already  noted  how  the  station  was  shifted  from 
Manyanga  to  its  present  position  in  1884.  The  old  clay 
buildings  have  long  ago  given  place  to  a brick  hou.se,  having 
the  ground  floor  used  for  storage,  and  the  first  floor  as 
a dwelling-house.  There  are  three  other  houses  built  on 
iron  pillars  2 ft.  3 in.  high ; the  walls  and  roofs  are  of  iron, 
the  latter  being  lined  with  match  boarding,  with  an  interval 
between  the  iron  and  the  lining  of  four  inches.  An  eight- 
foot  verandah  keeps  the  walls  cool ; they  are  not  lined.  There 
is  a large  iron  store,  part  of  which  is  fitted  up  as  a dispensary. 
Another  iron  building,  80  ft.  by  36  ft.,  is  half  of  it  used  as 
a dormitory  for  1 20  boys,  the  other  half  is  the  school-room 
and  chapel.  These,  a dormitory  capable  of  holding  sixty 
girls,  another  boys’  house,  a printing  office,  hospital  huts,  farm 
and  other  buildings,  constitute  some  extensive  premises. 

The  station  is  well  laid  out,  and  planted  with  fruit  trees. 
Beautiful  mango  trees,  plantains,  bananas,  cashew,  alligator 
pear  [Persea),  nsafu  (a  native  fruit,  Canuarensis),  custard-apple 
{Anona),  marac7ija  (a  large  passion-flower  and  fruit),  Bar- 
badoes  cherry  [Malpighia),  loquot,  papaw,  orange,  lime,  bread- 
fruit, bread-nut,  cocoa-nut,  and  other  palm-trees  in  abun- 
dance, adorn  the  station  and  bear  fruit.  There  are  several 
hundred  coffee-trees,  some  of  which  are  bearing,  and  some 
cacao  (cocoa)  bushes.  The  pathways  and  roads  outside  are 
bordered  with  pineapple.s,  which  grow  as  readily  as  weeds. 
English  roses,  agaves,  aloes,  bougainvillea,  allamanda,  frangi- 
pani, oleander,  hibiscus,  crinum  and  gloriosa  lilies,  convol- 


MISSION  HOUSE,  WATUEN 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION ; 1SS7-99  323 


vulas,  Euphorbia  spleudida  (a  crimson-flowered  thorn),  scarlet 
acacias,  pride  of  Barbadoes,  poinsettias,  and  graceful  dracaenas 
lend  their  beauty  to  the  gardens,  which  are  fenced  with 
fragrant  lemon-grass  or  an  andropogon-grass  {Qiscus),  or  tall 
poplar-like  trees  which  bear  a white,  bell-like  flower,  streaked 
with  violet.  With  care,  shade,  and  water,  English  vegetables 
can  be  raised ; Messrs.  Sutton  & Sons,  of  Reading,  have 
been  good  enough  to  present  each  of  our  stations  with  a 
large  assortment  of  seeds  year  by  year,  much  to  our  appre- 
ciation, and  to  the  advantage  of  our  physical  health. 

Our  plot  of  land  measures  200  by  400  metres,  and  upon 
that  we  have  built,  and  we  grow  our  fruit  and  coffee  trees  ; 
but  all  round  the  station  many  broad  acres  of  cassava 
plantations  have  been  laid  out  by  our  boys  and  girls.  They 
combine  with  the  farms  of  the  people  of  the  village,  which 
has  grown  up  beside  us,  to  make  nearly  a square  mile  of 
cultivation. 

When  Nlemvo  (my  pundit)  married,  he  built  beside  the 
station  ; some  others  of  our  young  people  have  done  the  same 
since  ; some  natives,  oppressed  and  wronged  in  their  towns, 
have  also  built  there,  so  that  quite  a village  has  sprung  up. 
It  has  been  neatly  laid  out,  with  convenient  roadways,  and 
the  building  plots  are  50  by  25  metres  each.  This  village 
bears  Thomas  Comber’s  native  name — Vianga-Vianga  {restless 
activity) — in  memory  of  him. 

The  plantations  yield  cassava  or  manioc  (from  which 
tapioca  is  made),  ground-nuts  {Arachis  hypogoea,  sold  in  Eng- 
land as  ‘ monkey  nuts  ’),  yams,  beans  in  great  variety,  onions, 
sugar-cane,  sweet  potatoes,  pumpkins,  taro,  a little  mountain 
rice,  which  should  be  more  planted,  millet,  maize,  Congo  pea 
{Cajanus  indicus),  plantain,  bananas,  pepper,  spinach,  auber- 
gines, salads,  tough  native  cabbages,  sesamum  (an  oil  seed), 
and  many  things  not  known  to  English  readers,  such  as 
helmia,  voandzeia,  &c. 

Fowls,  goats,  and  a few  sheep  make  the  staple  of  our  flesh 
food.  There  are  fine  fish  in  the  great  river,  but  few  of  them 
find  their  way  to  Wathen  Station.  Pigs  are  nearly  always 
‘measly’;  the  natives  ignore  the  condition,  but  we  cannot. 


324 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


so  native  pork  is  absent  from  our  tables.  There  are  a fair 
number  of  wood  pigeons  about,  and  some  guinea-fowl  and 
hares,  but  antelopes  are  not  common. 

The  supply  of  flesh  food  for  the  natives  is  altogether  inade- 
quate ; its  lack  has  to  be  supplied  by  dainty  stews  of  tadpoles, 
caterpillars  (of  certain  kinds  only),  frogs,  fieldmice,  &c  Fish 
on  the  markets  is  always  dear,  and,  except  that  which  comes 
from  the  great  river,  is  very  small  and  bony.  Little  siluroid 
cat-fish  are  caught  in  the  small  streams  ; several  are  stuck  on 
a spit  and  sold  on  the  markets.  Cabbage,  pumpkin,  cassava, 
and  spinach  leaves  are  stewed  with  palm  nuts  to  make  an 
oily  stew  ; strongly  seasoned  with  pepper ; they  often  serve 
instead  of  meat.  In  September  fine  mushrooms  are  common, 
and  a large  number  of  edible  fungi  are  known  to  the  natives, 
and  much  eaten.  Our  school-boys  are  largely  fed  on  pump- 
kin and  gourd  pips,  crushed  and  boiled  ; these  help  down  the 
cassava  pudding,  and  are  rich  in  oil.  The  perfect  insect  of 
the  white  ant,  as  it  issues,  winged,  from  the  nest  in  which  it 
has  been  brought  up,  is  considered  a great  delicacy.  As 
they  .stream  from  their  holes,  towards  the  end  of  the  rainy 
season,  the  natives  place  a number  of  branching  grass-heads 
over  the  holes  to  entangle  the  ants,  and  so  catch  large 
numbers.  The  pupae  of  the  unicorn  beetle  are  found  in  the 
palm-trees,  and  are  much  esteemed.  Those  insects  which  they 
eat  consist  very  largely  of  fat,  and  are  very  nourishing. 

The  founding  of  the  Christian  Church  at  Wathen  in  1889 
has  been  related.  The  six  young  men  and  two  women  who 
united  to  form  it,  began  from  the  first  to  do  what  they  could 
in  the  way  of  Christian  work.  They  visited  regularly  six 
friendly  towns,  and  tried  to  reach  others.  The  work  at 
Wathen  at  that  time  was  rendered  very  difficult  by  the  spirit 
of  turbulence  and  unrest  which  possessed  the  people.  They 
began  to  realize  that  the  Government  of  the  Congo  State  was 
a power  in  the  country.  The  old  violence  and  lawlessness 
could  not  exist  as  before  ; those  who  robbed  people  vvho 
were  travelling  in  the  line  of  the  transport  were  liable  to  be 
called  to  account.  The  weak  in  some  cases  appealed  to  the 
State  for  redress ; and  unscrupulous  men  began  to  feel  that 


THE  CATARACT  REGION ; 1887-99 


325 


they  could  not  have  things  all  their  own  way.  This  rise  of 
a new  power  for  justice,  peace,  and  security,  was  much  re- 
sented ; the  people  talked  of  attacking  the  State,  of  driving 
the  white  men  from  the  country,  and  a return  to  the  status 
quo.  They  concerted  a foolish  plot  among  themselves  ; they 
would  build  secret  towns,  hidden  in  the  fastnesses  of  their 
woods  and  deep  valleys — towns  of  which  the  white  men  did 
not  know;  in  these  they  would  hide  their  women  and  their 
property  for  safety,  and  they  would  be  in  a position  to  fight. 
If  the  old  towns  were  burnt,  it  would  not  matter.  We  noticed 
that  the  houses  became  more  dilapidated,  and  no  new  ones 
were  being  built,  but  the  locality  of  the  new  towns  was  kept 
a secret.  We  had  a general  idea  as  to  where  they  were  being 
built,  but  there  was  no  need  to  intrude  too  soon  ; indeed,  the 
natives  declared  that  any  of  our  station  people,  or  even  the 
white  men  themselves,  would  be  shot  if  they  ventured  to  pry 
into  the  hidden  towns. 

The  people  would  not  allow  the  women  to  light  a fire 
during  the  day-time,  lest  the  smoke  should  reveal  the  position 
of  the  new  town  ; crowing  cocks  were  not  to  be  kept ; but 
the  footpath  to  the  town  became  day  by  day  broader,  and 
more  strongly  marked.  In  October,  1888,  Fred.  Oram  and 
I started  one  Sunday  afternoon  alone  to  visit  one  of  the 
towns  being  built  by  the  people  of  Ngombe,  the  large  town 
beside  us,  for  we  did  not  like  to  be  thus  cut  off  from  our 
people.  We  followed  a broad  road  for  three-quarters  of  an 
hour,  which  led  to  the  village.  The  people  were  astonished, 
and  inquired  who  had  shown  us  the  way.  We  told  them 
that  the  town  boys  can  recognize  the  faint  trace  of  a rat’s 
path  in  the  jungle,  and  we  could  not  but  follow  a broad,  well- 
used  path,  and  know  that  since  it  was  so  often  traversed,  it 
must  lead  to  a town.  No  one  needed  a guide  to  find  where 
they  lived.  They  were  much  disconcerted,  and  vexed  with 
us,  but  no  one  did  anything.  We  passed  on,  and  found 
another  such  town  on  the  way  home.  By  degrees  we  visited 
others  in  a simple,  friendly  way,  which  prevented  them  from 
doing  any  violence ; the  people  came  to  feel  that  it  was 
impossible  to  hide  from  us,  and  that  it  was  indeed  scarcely 


326 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


necessary  ; they  continued,  however,  their  preparations  against 
the  State. 

The  second  man  in  the  Ngombe  town,  Wayiza,  was  the 
leader  of  the  local  rowdies.  It  was  a fine,  populous  town, 
and  the  Ngombe  people  were  the  strongest  in  the  district. 
The  rowdies  helped  themselves  from  the  b’askets  of  the 
women  of  other  towns  as  they  came  up  to  the  market,  and 
no  one  ventured  to  punish  them.  On  one  occasion  Wayiza 
was  more  or  less  drunk,  when  a caravan  of  the  Dutch  House 


MAKITU’S  VILLAGE,  MATADI 


passed  through.  He  seized  two  of  the  bales,  saying  that 
his  friend  the  chief  agent  up  country  would  not  mind  his 
taking  a couple  of  bales.  The  contents  of  the  bales  were 
soon  squandered.  The  chief  agent  sent  a man  to  inquire 
into  the  matter,  and  to  demand  the  cloth.  Time  was  asked 
for  consideration,  and  some  months  slipped  by.  The  Dutch 
agent  moved  again,  and  Lutete  and  Makitu,  the  local  chiefs, 
contributed  cloth  of  the  quality  and  quantity  of  that  in 
one  of  the  stolen  bales,  and  told  Wayiza  to  make  up  the 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


327 


rest,  and  send  it  to  the  Dutch  House.  Wayiza  and  his  young 
friends  squandered  the  contribution,  and  nothing  was  done. 
Months  passed,  and  once  more  the  Dutch  agent  threatened 
to  take  the  matter  to  the  State ; once  more  Lutete  and 
Makitu  contributed  a bale.  Wayiza  squandered  it  as  before. 
The  chiefs  were  angry,  but  they  could  not  bring  themselves 
to  punish  a man  of  their  own  family,  so  nothing  was  done. 

A few  months  later  a force  of  eighty  soldiers  of  the  State 
were  sent  to  patrol  the  district,  as  a sort  of  demonstration  of 
their  power  to  keep  the  roads  open.  It  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  two  bales,  for  the  Dutch  House  was  buying  on  the 
lower  river  large  quantities  of  ivory  from  the  Ngombe 
people,  and  did  not  wish  to  seek  the  intervention  of  the 
State.  As  soon  as  the  soldiers  arrived,  the  people  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  come  to  fight  with  Ngombe 
over  Wayiza’s  theft.  The  Ngombe  people  ran  away  to  their 
hidden  towns,  and  from  that  day  to  this  the  fine  populous 
town  has  been  deserted.  When  the  fruit  of  their  nsafu 
[Caniiarensis  ed^  trees  was  ripe,  they  feared  that  strangers 
might  eat  the  fruit  on  the  trees  in  their  abandoned  town,  so 
they  lit  fires  at  the  bases  of  the  trees,  and  destroyed  them, 
lest  others  should  eat  their  fruit.  They  would  prevent  others 
from  profiting,  if  even  they  had  to  go  without  themselves. 
Such  is  the  heathen  mind  ! How  often  have  we  urged  the 
planting  of  more  fruit  trees,  only  to  receive  the  reply,  ‘ I might 
not  live  to  eat  of  the  trees!  ’ We  urged  that  their  successors 
would  be  benefited.  ‘ Plant  for  other  people  ? Not  I ! ’ So 
they  forego  their  own  profit,  lest  others  should  share  it. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  deplorable  anarchy 
and  violence  of  the  country.  There  was  no  paramount  chief ; 
each  town  and  village  was  practically  a separate  state.  Forti- 
fied in  their  towns,  surrounded  by  dense  jungle,  they  defied 
their  neighbours,  robbed  strangers  who  traversed  the  roads, 
and  worked  out  their  own  sweet  w ills.  They  had  a remark- 
able custom  of  ‘ pass  it  on.’  If  a man  w'as  robbed  or  ill- 
treated,  or  was  troubled  wdth  defaulting  debtors,  he  would 
catch  passing  travellers  of  some  other  town.  Let  us  draw 
a picture  of  the  state  of  things,  using  the  names  of  English 


328 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


towns,  to  give  a better  idea  of  the  case.  A man  of  Bourne- 
mouth marries  a woman  of  Southampton  ; a quarrel  arises 
over  some  trivial  matter,  and  the  woman  takes  her  large 
basket,  puts  into  it  her  hoe,  two  small  cooking-pots,  her 
pipe,  a well-worn  knife,  some  fetishes,  a spare  loin-cloth, 
and  one  small  basket.  She  ties  the  legs  of  her  fowl  together, 
and  hitches  the  bird  by  a string  to  her  shoulder,  while  it 
dangles  head  downwards.  After  much  passion,  shouting,  and 
denunciation,  she  goes  away  in  a fury.  The  husband  comforts 
himself  with  the  thought  that  she  will  soon  come  back  to  look 
after  her  plantations,  and  hopes  that  she  will  go  no  further 
than  the  next  village.  He  learns,  however,  that  she  has 
gone  home  to  Southampton.  There  she  tells  her  people 
(falsely)  that  her  husband  is  always  beating  her,  and  she  will 
not  return  to  him.  Now  the  truth  may  be  quite  the  contrary, 
for  the  strong  women  of  the  towns  work  on  their  farms,  and 
develop  such  an  amount  of  muscle,  that  wife-beating  would 
often  be  a perilous  undertaking.  We  do  hear  of  such  a thing, 
but  so  we  do  of  husband-beating. 

After  waiting  some  weeks,  and  hearing  that  his  wife  has 
been  married  to  another  man,  the  husband  goes  to  his  wife’s 
relatives  to  ask  for  her  return.  He  is  received  with  indigna- 
tion and  insult,  and  is  happy  to  get  away  alive.  The  wife’s 
friends  shout  after  him  to  bring  a respectable  force,  and  come 
and  fetch  his  wife.  He  had  paid  3,oco  brass  rods  to  her 
parents  for  her  dowry,  and  he  wishes  to  get  that  back  ; he 
considers  that  15,000  is  a fair  demand.  Two  Salisbury 
people  happen  to  pass  through  Bournemouth  soon  after ; 
the  wronged  husband  catches  them,  and  ties  them  up  in  his 
house,  intending  to  sell  them.  The  captives’  friends  come 
to  Bournemouth  to  inquire  the  reason  of  this  act  of  violence, 
when  no  dispute  exists  between  them.  The  husband  tells 
them  to  go  to  Southampton  and  get  back  his  wife,  then 
their  people  shall  go  free.  Perhaps  they  do  as  is  suggested, 
but  the  Southampton  people  say  that  they  have  no  business 
on  with  Salisbury,  and  advise  them  to  let  other  peo- 
ple’s affairs  alone,  and  clear  off.  Salisbury  people  catch 
some  traders  from  Winchester  ; and  as  some  Reading  folk 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


329 


pass  through  Winchester  with  goats  to  sell  on  Portsmouth 
market,  they  are  seized,  and  sold  as  slaves  to  recoup  Win- 
chester. Reading  captures  Bristol  folk,  and  they  capture 
Birmingham  people  ; and  so  it  goes  on  until  the  origin  of 
a ‘ palaver  ’ ten  times  complicated  is  quite  unknown. 

This  sort  of  thing  was  going  on  constantly ; the  whole 
country  was  embroiled,  it  was  not  safe  to  travel.  Sometimes 
a prompt  resort  to  arms  or  other  influences  stopped  an  affair, 
and  made  it  purely  local ; but  nearly  every  town  was  at  feud 
with  its  neighbours.  People  waited  for  years  for  a chance  of 
revenge. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  such  people  would  be  glad  of  the 
intervention  of  a strong  European  power,  which  would  cause 
this  reign  of  violence  to  cease ; but  it  was  not  so.  Every 
township  feared  that  the  force  would  be  employed  against 
them  ; then,  too,  they  wanted  to  payoff  their  grudges  when 
they  had  a chance  ; and  further,  they  knew  that  if  the  wrongs 
which  they  had  committed  were  inquired  into,  the  case  would 
not  go  well  with’ them.  The  general ’feeling  was  that  the 
advent  of  the  State  was  a nuisance,  and  a danger  which 
menaced  their  ‘ liberties  ’ (for  wrong-doing).  Even  we  were 
disliked  and  feared  ; not  that  we  did  any  harm,  or  burned 
towns,  or  were  in  any  way  judicial,  but  it  was  felt  that  if  we 
went  about,  we  should  get  to  know  too  much.  Whole  districts 
were  closed  to  us,  and  we  often  heard  that  if  we  visited  certain 
towns,  the  people  were  resolved  to  shoot  the  visitor. 

With  the  people  near  our  station  thus  opposed  to  us, 
through  their  folly  of  the  secret  towns,  and  the  wider  district 
opposed  to  us  as  above  shown,  the  outlook  was  not  encouraging  ; 
but  time,  tact,  and  patience  broke  down  the  opposition.  Kiula 
of  Kindinga,  a town  a mile  to  the  south  of  Wathen,  had  rela- 
tives in  Madinga,  four  hours  to  the  east ; he  urged  me  very 
strongly  to  accompany  him  to  Madinga,  to  take  medicine  to 
his  uncle,  who  had  a very  bad  ulcer  on  his  leg.  Now  the 
rowdies  of  Madinga  had  talked  verydoudly  on  their  market  of 
what  they  would  do  to  me  if  I visited  their  town  ; but  I believed 
that  I had  little  to  fear  if  I went  on  such  an  errand.  I went 
there  several  times,  passing  one  or  two  towns  on  the  way. 

VOL.  II. 


Y 


33° 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


Zeka,  a friend  of  Kiula,  was  anxious  that  I should  go  to 
preach  to  some  of  his  friends.  He  said  that  the  people  of 
Ngombe-a-Kiana  were  very  anxious  to  hear  the  Gospel,  and 
he  wanted  to  take  me  there.  They  said  that  the  rains  were 
not  sufficiently  regular,  their  manioc  was  a failure,  their 
ground-nuts  were  dying  off,  and  things  were  generally  in 
a bad  way.  They  believed  that  their  ignorance  of  God  and 
indifference  towards  Him  was  the  cause  of  all  their  misfortune. 
They  wanted  to  know  God.  I told  him  how  anxious  I was  to 
visit  Kiana,  for  I had  been  on  each  side  of  it,  but  not  through 
the  district ; I would  start  in  five  days.  He  was  very  urgent 
that  there  should  be  no  such  delay.  The  story  was  very 
plausible,  but  I wondered  much  at  this  earnestness  and 
interest  in  such  a man  as  Zeka.  He  was  a bad  man.  A year 
before  a slave  of  his  had  taken  some  pieces  of  handkerchiefs 
as  rations  for  a caravan  to  fetch  up  goods  from  Lukungu  to 
Wathen.  A day  or  two  later,  Zeka  told  us  coolly  that  he  had 
killed  him.  ‘ What  for  ? ’ ‘ I do  not  want  him  to  carry  for  you. 
He  is  very  likely  to  run  away  with  the  loads,  so  I killed  the 
fellow  ! ’ He  was  strongly  remonstrated  with  for  the  monstrous 
crime  ; but  he  assured  us  that  we  need  have  no  anxiety  for  the 
rations  given  out,  he  would  send  some  one  else  to  bring  up 
the  loads.  He  could  not  understand  that  there  could  be  any 
other  reason  for  remonstrance.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say 
how  many  free  men  he  had  sold  into  slavery  for  trifling  debts, 
and  generally  he  was  considered  a very  bad  man.  Still,  as 
long  as  he  let  the  general  public  alone,  the  general  public  felt 
no  call  to  punish  him  for  his  wickedness.  He  was  considered 
to  have  a ‘ very  bad  fashion,’  but  as  he  seldom  ventured  far 
from  his  own  village,  he  was  fairly  safe.  1 became  suspicious 
that  Zeka  was  wishing  to  collect  debts  in  the  Kiana  districts, 
or  that  there  was  some  ulterior  object  in  his  mind.  I asked 
Nlemvo  to  sound  him,  but  to  no  purpose  ; he  declared  that 
there  was  no  other  motive  but  his  desire  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  Kiana  folk. 

I went  in  due  course,  and  was  very  kindly  received  by  the 
Ngombe  people.  I told  them  why  I had  come  with  Zeka, 
and  how  often  I had  been  wishing  to  visit  them.  They  were 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


331 


glad  that  I had  come.  We  had  an  interesting  talk  with  them 
in  the  afternoon.  They  said  that  next  day  there  would  be  a 
gathering  of  the  neighbouring  chiefs.  My  old  friend  Lulendo, 
whose  acquaintance  I made  first  at  Manyanga  in  1881,  came 
to  see  me.  He  was  the  most  noted  native  advocate  in  all  the 
country,  and  Nlemvo  told  me  that  the  Kiana  people  had 
called  him  to  talk  a palaver  for  them.  Their  market  had 
been  destroyed  by  a riot,  and  they  were  wishing  to  get  all  the 
chiefs  to  re-establish  it,  and  to  settle  the  matter  which  caused 
the  riot.  He  was  to  get  1,000  brass  rods  for  his  services. 

I thought  that  Lulendo  had  been  talking  about  us,  and 
therefore  they  had  sent  for  me,  and  asked  no  more  questions. 
Next  day  a number  of  chiefs  and  people  assembled,  and  I had 
a long  and  interesting  talk  with  them.  They  were  very  curious 
as  to  why  I had  come. 

The  truth  as  to  Zeka’s  zeal  for  the  Gospel  eventually  came 
out.  He  had  wished  to  get  a present  ‘over  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  Kiana  market,  but  was  afraid  to  make  the  journey 
alone,  for  he  had  many  enemies ; so  he  had  invented  this 
story,  and  his  anxiety  was  due  to  the  fear  that  he  would 
arrive  too  late.  The  whole  thing  was  a pure  fiction  on  his 
part. 

I was  not  surprised  to  learn  that  Zeka  had  an  ulterior 
motive,  but  was  very  glad  to  get  an  opening  into  the  Kiana 
district  by  any  means,  for  the  door  was  never  again  closed. 
So  in  one  way  or  the  other  the  barriers  were  broken  down, 
and  the  towns  once  hotly  opposed  heard  of  our  visits,  medical 
work,  and  quiet  pleasant  ways  ; and  the  talk  of  shooting  and 
violence  toward  us  was  dropped.  It  was  not  all  talk,  however, 
for  Cameron  was  hunted  out  of  one  town,  and  chased  for 
a long  distance. 

A few  weeks  after  the  Zeka  episode  I went  on  a little 
itinerary  with  my  wife.  It  was  a most  bewildering  thing  to 
these  people  to  see  a woman  sit  at  table  and  eat  with  her 
husband  as  his  equal,  respected,  cared  for,  and  honoured. 

They  had  much  to  say  about  it — indeed,  it  was  very 
amusing  to  hear  their  remarks,  and  the  questions  they  asked. 
How  much  dowry  did  I pay  for  her?  When  I told  them 

Y 2 


332 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


that  sometimes  parents  would  hand  over  a handsome  dowry 
with  a wife,  they  were  convulsed  with  laughter  at  the  idea, 
and  considered  that  white  folk  must  be  a very  innocent, 
simple-hearted  lot. 

We  used  to  take  our  meals  under  a shady  tree  rather  than 
in  the  small  native  house — for  we  did  not  burden  ourselves 
with  a tent  — and  there,  in  public,  would  undergo  their 
criticism.  The  men  would  chaff  the  women,  and  the  women 
the  men,  over  our  subversive  customs,  and  comment  as  freely 
as  if  we  did  not  understand  a word. 

My  wife  sometimes  carved,  and  sometimes  I did,  the  result 
being  that  they  became  quite  confused  as  to  which  was  lord 
and  master,  and  as  to  which  had  the  right  to  divide  the  food, 
and  what  proportion  fell  to  each.  My  wife  went  into  the 
women’s  houses  in  the  evening  also,  and  talked  to  them  as 
they  cooked.  So  we  mixed  with  the  people,  and  made 
ourselves  at  home  with  them,  our  daily  life  and  behaviour 
closely  scrutinized.  Any  little  acts  of  kindness  or  attention 
were  carefully  noted.  They  came  to  the  conclusion  that  we 
white  folks  love  and  respect  our  wives,  and  sometimes  they 
remarked,  ‘You  know  how  to  marry’;  meaning,  of  course, 
that  we  know  how  a wife  should  be  treated,  and  that  our 
customs  are  the  best.  ‘ After  all,’  they  would  say,  ‘ it  is  a 
matter  of  custom.  You  do  so  and  so  in  your  country ; but 
we  do  so  and  so.’  This  seems  perfectly  natural  and  reason- 
able to  them. 

On  one  occasion  I was  strolling  with  my  wife  through 
Ngombe,  and  we  sat  down  to  talk  to  the  women  in  a com- 
pound ; they  had  a number  of  questions  to  ask,  and  were  very 
curious  as  to  why  I was  content  to  have  only  one  wife.  They 
insisted  that  it  was  far  better  to  have  a good  number — why, 
if  a man  had  only  one  wife,  he  would  have  only  one  woman 
to  cry  over  him  when  he  died ! One  might  as  well  be 
a slave,  and  have  a pauper  funeral ! 

The  marriage  customs  of  the  people  are  a frightful  source  of 
trouble  in  the  country.  In  the  Wathen  district  a slave  girl 
may  be  bought  and  taken  as  a wife  ; in  that  case  both  the 
woman  and  her  children  are  the  property  of  the  husband. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


333 


Such  property  would  not  be  sold,  but  the  children  would 
tend  to  strengthen  the  position  of  their  father,  for  they  and 
their  children  would  stay  in  the  father’s  town.  It  is  far  more 
common  for  a man  to  marry  by  the  payment  of  a dowry  to 
the  wife’s  parents  ; not  that  the  payment  is  a purchase,  for  the 
woman  does  not  in  any  way  become  the  man’s  slave,  neither 
has  he  any  control  over  his  own  children.  They  belong  to 
the  wife’s  family,  and  as  they  grow  up  they  go  to  live  with 
their  uncles.  The  wife  then  is  handed  over  in  marriage  by 
her  family,  and  the  man  may  pay  2,000  brass  rods  to  them. 
The  woman’s  mother’s  family  reap  the  main  advantage, 
although  the  father  gets  a share.  The  dowry  money  thus  paid 
constitutes  the  husband’s  right  to  the  continued  companionship 
of  his  wife.  The  wife’s  friends  get  for  her  as  much  as  they 
can,  and  very  soon  spend  it,  or  use  it  in  trade  or  family 
business  ; anyhow,  it  is  speedily  dispersed. 

But  the  matter  does  not  end  there.  If  the  woman  dies,  the 
family  has  to  provide  another  wife  to  the  man.  That  often 
lands  them  in  a great  difficulty,  for  there  may  not  be  a 
marriageable  girl  or  a woman  of  the  family  available  ; in  such 
case  they  may  ask  the  man  to  receive  money  instead,  offering 
him  back  the  money  he  paid  for  the  deceased  wife’s  dowry. 
This  he  refuses,  unless  a substantial  increment  be  added.  He 
demands  interest  on  the  money.  What  might  he  not  have 
made  by  it  in  trading,  if  it  had  not  gone  in  dowry  ? The  local 
interest  paid  on  a loan  would  be  fifty  per  cent,  for  eight  days. 
Compound  interest  on  the  dowry  money  at  that  rate  would 
amount  to  a great  sum  ; the  man,  therefore,  has  no  hesitation 
in  asking  12,000  or  15,000,  when  he  gave  2,000  only  for  his 
wife.  Then  follows  a long  bargaining,  and  the  man  makes 
a reduction  or  remains  obstinate.  In  the  later  case,  some  of 
the  junior  members  of  the  woman’s  family  are  sold  as  slaves, 
or  pawned  to  provide  the  necessary  means.  It  often  happens 
that  greedy  uncles  absorb  the  dowry  money,  die,  and  leave 
their  nephews  to  refund  money  which  they  never  received. 

This  dowry  custom,  universal  as  it  is,  is  a constant  source 
of  trouble,  fighting,  oppression,  and  slavery  ; but  it  is  not 
an  unmitigated  evil,  for  it  is  the  sole  bond  in  marriage  among 


334 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


wild  and  wicked  people.  If  a man  gets  tired  of  his  wife  and 
wishes  to  put  her  away,  he  hesitates  to  do  so,  because,  if  the 
divorce  proceeds  from  him,  he  has  no  ground  upon  which 
to  demand  the  refunding  of  the  dowry  money  which  he  has 
paid.  If  the  woman  desires  to  leave  her  husband,  she  and 
her  family  become  liable  to  the  extortionate  demands  of 
the  husband.  The  dowry  money  thus  tends  to  the  perma- 
nency of  the  marriage  bond.  Notwithstanding,  divorce  is 
by  no  means  uncommon  ; in  some  parts,  indeed,  it  is  very 
frequent. 

Another  story  of  Zeka’s  lawless  behaviour  serves  as  an 
instance  of  native  ‘justice.’  Zeka  became  tired  of  one  of 
his  wives,  and  wished  to  get  rid  of  her,  but  did  not  know 
how  to  do  it  without  losing  his  dowry  money.  His  wife's 
mother  came  to  visit  her,  and  while  there  fell  sick  and  died. 
Zeka’s  ready  wits  seized  upon  this  event  to  seiwe  his  ends. 
He  abused  his  poor  wife  for  bringing  her  mother  to  die  in 
his  compound,  and  so  to  bring  a spell  upon  him.  On  the 
strength  of  this,  he  demanded  more  than  20,000  brass  rods 
(5,000  yards  of  wire,  7 gauge).  The  matter  was  to  be  arbi- 
trated by  certain  local  chiefs,  and  the  wife’s  people  were 
sure  of  winning  their  case ; but  Zeka  undertook  to  share 
the  spoil  with  his  judges,  so  the  case  was  decided  in  his 
favour,  and  the  wife’s  family  were  ruined  ; several  of  them 
became  slaves.  The  decision  was  quite  contrary  to  native 
custom,  but  the  rascal  Zeka  knew  how  to  manage  things. 
Natives  hearing  of  it  only  shrugged  their  shoulders  and 
laughed.  When  an  injustice  falls  on  another,  they  are  utterly 
callous  about  it.  So  a wicked  man  is  able  to  accomplish 
his  unscrupulous  will,  and  stories  of  wickedness  and  wrong 
might  be  multiplied.  People  were  trapped  into  small  debts, 
and  sold  under  that  pretext.  Charges  were  trumped  up,  and 
shameless  extortion  practised.  Old  palavers,  long  since 
judged  and  paid,  were  raked  up ; and  since  judges  and  all 
concerned  were  dead,  no  witness  of  the  payments  could  be 
found,  so  artful  nephews  brought  up  old  matters  of  which 
their  uncles  had  told  them,  and  these  were  once  more  made 
the  basis  of  extortion. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


335 


It  frequently  happened  that  baby  girls  a month  old  were 
betrothed  to  grown  men  ; often  when  a birth  was  expected 
a betrothal  would  be  arranged,  in  case  that  the  child  should 
be  a girl  ; so  tiny  mites  of  children  were  betrothed,  and 
money  was  paid  down  to  heads  of  families  who  were  hard 
pressed  for  money.  If  one  of  these  children  died,  the  un- 
scrupulous man  who  had  paid  money  on  account  of  the 
child  had  his  chance.  One  would  think  that  a few  such 
experiences  would  make  a man  wise,  but  the  obtuseness  of 
the  heathen  mind  is  terrible.  With  all  these  affairs  there 
would  be  reprisals  and  captures,  if  they  were  not  soon  settled ; 
so  the  violence,  anarchy,  and  misery  of  the  country  may  be 
to  some  extent  imagined. 

How  idyllic  the  life  appears  on  the  surface!  How  simple 
the  wants  of  the  people  ; and  yet  what  superstition,  misery, 
cruelty,  vice,  and  violence  underlie  the  simple  exterior  of 
the  native  life!  Heads  of  families  and  leading  men  have 
nearly  the  whole  of  their  time  taken  up  over  palavers  in 
which  they  are  extorting  or  suffering  extortion.  The  financing 
of  a large  family  is  a great  and  dark  business. 

The  country  round  us  was  thus  still  steeped  in  superstition 
and  wickedness  ; even  the  town  nearest  to  us  was  as  unmoved 
by  our  teaching  as  those  further  away.  Kiula,  the  chief  of 
the  town,  had  relatives  in  Mpete,  a town  two  hours  distant ; 
one  of  them  died,  and  the  accusation  of  the  cause  of  the 
death  by  witchcraft  was  fastened  on  an  old  man  of  Mpete. 
Kiula  and  his  party  urged  that  he  should  take  nkasa  (the 
ordeal).  There  had  been  no  intervention  of  a witch-doctor, 
but  the  old  man  had  outlived  all  of  his  generation,  and  the 
people  said  that  he  survived  because  he  was  the  cause  of 
the  death  of  all  of  them  ; he  was  the  witch,  so  of  course 
he  survived.  We  cautioned  Kiula,  and  he  was  afraid  to 
make  things  take  the  usual  course,  for  fear  of  the  State  ; he 
therefore  determined  to  put  him  to  death  without  actually 
killing  him ! He  took  a party  up  to  Mpete  one  moonlight 
night,  caught  the  old  man  in  his  house,  and  bound  him. 
They  dug  a hole  in  front  of  the  house,  put  the  old  man  in, 
and  buried  him  alive.  If  he  died,  that  was  his  business  ; 


336 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


nobody  had  killed  him ! So  the  foolish  people  thought. 
Makitu,  who  has  been  several  times  mentioned,  had  been 
made  a native  magistrate,  and  although  he  was  not  specially 
averse  to  such  deeds,  as  long  as  he  and  his  were  not  touched, 
he  feared  that  if  he  did  not  report  the  matter  to  the  State, 
we  should  ; accordingly,  he  informed  the  district  commissioner, 
and  Kiula  did  navvy  work  in  a chain  for  the  next  three 
months,  to  the  great  surprise  of  himself  and  the  people  gene- 
rally. The  ease  andTpromptness  with  which  he  was  arrested 
made  all  feel  that  the  State  was  an  intolerable  nuisance, 
interfering  thus  with  people’s  liberty  (to  do  wrong). 

Proud  of  his  position,  authority,  and  privileges,  Makitu 
esteemed  highly  that  ’side  of  his  magistracy ; to  secure  it, 
he  had,  nolens  volens,  to  exercise  some  measure  of  influence 
for  the  quieting  and  civilization  of  the  district.  The  fear 
that  we  should  report  violence  if  he  did  not,  and  thus  bring 
upon  him  censure  and  degradation,  made  him  report  when 
otherwise  he  would  not  have  done  so  ; and  the  fear  that  he 
would  thus  be  forced  to  report  such  deeds,  and  bring  down 
justice,  made  others  hesitate  to  do  violence  ; so  our  simple 
presence  in  the  district  and  knowledge  of  its  affairs  tended 
towards  a new  state  of  things,  and  forced  the  local  authority 
to  repress  violence.  Not  that  it  was  all  repressed,  but  these 
influences  worked  until  a great  change  has  come  over  the 
district.  The  presence  and  work  of  the  Congo  State  has 
thus  exercised  a very  great  influence  for  good  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Wathen.  We  have  often  wished  that  the  wrongs 
which  were  committed  were  more  promptly  and  frequently 
followed  up ; but  the  introduction  of  law  and  justice  into 
such  a country  must  go  slowly.  The  commissioner  would 
gladly  have  conferred  upon  us  magisterial  powers,  but  that 
was  impossible : the  missionary  should  never  be  a magistrate 
as  well ; the  two  roles  are  incongruous. 

For  many  years  the  evangelization  of  the  wide  region  round 
our  station  seemed  an  almost  impossible  task.  We  were  able 
to  do  something  in  our  own  immediate  neighbourhood  ; but 
twenty,  fifty,  seventy  miles  away,  what  could  we  do?  A visit 
of  a day  or  two,  once  in  six  months,  would  do  but  little  to 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


337 


stem  the  tide  of  heathen  superstition  and  wickedness.  From 
high  points  in  the  district,  whence  broad  stretches  of  country 
lay  open,  I have  looked  at  the  villages  spreading  away  over 
the  country,  and  wondered  how  the  people  of  that  wide  land 
were  to  be  won  for  Christ.  I have  wrung  my  hands  in 
distress  at  the  vastness  of  the  appalling  task.  To-day  I could 
stand  on  those  same  heights,  and  note  the  principal  points  of 
that  wide  country  as  centres  of  Christian  work  ; the  homes 
of  those  who  have  learned  to  love  the  Saviour,  and  are 
seeking  to  make  Him  known.  We  must  now  tell  how  this 
was  accomplished. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  present  Wathen  station,  school 
work  has  been  carried  on ; but  in  the  early  days  things  were 
on  a far  from  satisfactory  basis.  There  were  some  twenty 
bright  boys  living  on  the  station  ; but  while  they  were 
fed,  and  clothed,  and  taught,  they  would  not  do  any  work, 
unless  they  were  specially  paid  for  it.  For  more  than  two 
years  this  was  borne  patiently  ; food  was  cheap  and  plentiful, 
and  it  was  hoped  that  soon  discipline  and  work  would  not 
wreck  the  school.  There  came  a time  of  famine  in  1887, 
when  food  could  scarcely  be  had.  The  parents  of  our 
scholars,  instead  of  helping  us  in  the  food  difficulty,  by 
selling  us  food  for  their  own  children  to  eat,  came  and 
begged  from  the  boys  part  of  the  rations  with  which  we 
supplied  them.  This  was  too  much  for  Thomas  Comber. 
The  school  was  disbanded  ; a few  boys,  just  enough  to  do 
the  house  work,  were  retained,  and  with  them  a little 
schooling  was  done,  when  possible.  Meanwhile  the  building 
of  the  station  was  pushed  on. 

On  October  14,  1888,  Oram  visited  a town  two  hours  to 
the  west  of  the  station,  and  while  there  two  active  traders 
handed  over  to  him  each  a boy.  They  begged  him  to  take 
and  train  them  carefully ; they  were  to  be  made  to  work 
when  we  wished,  and  to  be  taught  as  much  as  we  could  put 
into  them  ; they  were  not  to  be  paid — their  masters  were 
rich,  and  could  keep  them  in  pocket-money.  This  was  a 
satisfactory  basis.  These  boys  became  the  commencement 
of  the  present  Wathen  school,  for  another  chief  to  the  east  of 


338 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


us  heard  of  it,  and  brought  two  boys  ; others  came,  so  that 
by  the  end  of  the  year  we  had  ten  boys  and  two  girls.  In 
July,  1889,  my  wife  returned  to  Wathen,  and  took  over  the 
school  work.  Five  of  our  workmen,  twenty-six  boys,  and 
five  girls  were  in  attendance  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  since 
then  it  has  steadily  grown  until  in  the  end  of  1897  we  had 
183  boarders  and  some  fifteen  day  pupils  on  the  station. 

It  was  very  difficult  to  teach  without  books,  so  Scrivener 
printed  a primer  for  us  in  the  Edwin  Wade  Press  at 
Underhill ; there  was  also  Cameron’s  translation  of  Mark 
for  them  to  read,  and  my  wife  brought  back  with  her  from 
England  her  translation  of  More  about  Jesus  in  the  Peep  of 
Day  series,  which  the  Religious  Tract  Society  had  printed 
as  a small  edition.  These,  with  a little  hymn-book,  were  the 
beginnings  of  a literature.  My  wife  pushed  on  with  other 
translation  work,  and  prepared  later  on  a translation  of  half 
of  Foster’s  Story  of  the  Bible ^ and  a series  of  1,500  arith- 
metical problems.  What  with  her  domestic  duties,  the  care 
of  the  girls  and  babies,  the  help  she  rendered  me  in  looking 
after  the  work  of  the  boys  from  my  district,  the  school,  and 
translation  work,  her  life  was  very  busy. 

Evangelistic  work  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  station  was 
carried  on  by  the  members  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  the 
missionaries ; the  seed  was  sown,  but  the  soil  seemed  very 
hard  and  sterile.  In  one  town,  however,  Vunda,  some  hopes 
were  raised.  A man  named  Ntetela,  and  two  or  three  of  his 
friends,  evidenced  an  interest  in  .spiritual  things.  Ntetela, 
a tall,  thin,  quiet  man,  was  thoroughly  roused  ; he  sought  and 
found  the  Saviour.  We  did  not  baptize  him  forthwith,  but 
allowed  an  interval  to  elapse  before  his  admission  to  the 
Church.  He  was  earnest  in  seeking  to  lead  his  friends  to 
Christ,  and  commenced  visiting  the  neighbouring  towns  to 
preach  to  the  people.  A great  deal  of  opposition  was  raised, 
which  frightened  the  two  or  three  who  had  shown  some 
interest.  The  rumour  was  spread  that  Ntetela  had  become 
our  agent  to  bewitch  the  people,  and  to  sell  us  their  spirits. 
The  people  became  afraid  of  him,  and  threatened  him.  He 
was  chief  of  a large  part  of  Vunda,  and  a man  of  good 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


339 


family  ; indeed,  he  was  one  of  the  few  men  in  the  country 
who  was  not  of  slave  family.  This,  however,  did  not  avail 
him ; he  had  to  leave  his  town,  and  went  to  live  with  friends 
at  Nkondo,  an  hour  to  the  east  of  us.  He  still  went  about 
preaching,  in  spite  of  the  anger  and  opposition  which  it  raised. 

In  December,  1890,  he  disappeared.  Two  women  said 
that  they  had  met  him  going  to  Kimbenza,  an  hour  to  the 
north  of  us.  A report  spread  that  he  was  dead,  so  we  called 
the  Kimbenza  chiefs,  and  interrogated  them.  They  declared 
that  Ntetela  had  come  into  one  of  their  towns,  and  had  told  the 
people  that  he  was  going  to  commit  suicide  ; he  then  passed 
down  the  road  leading  to  the  river.  No  one  would  give  us 
any  other  information,  although  we  tried  for  months  to  learn 
the  truth.  We  did  not  think  that  the  story  of  suicide  was 
true.  For  seven  years  the  matter  remained  a mystery,  until 
■a  Vunda  man  told  us  that  he  had  heard  from  a woman  of  the 
town  that  the  suicide  story  was  false.  Ntetela  went  into  one 
of  the  Kimbenza  towns  to  preach  ; but  the  people  seized  him, 
hurried  him  down  the  long  slope  to  the  river,  fastened  a great 
stone  to  his  neck,  threw  him  in  from  the  rocks,  and  drowned 
him.  This  is  probably  the  truth.  The  Kimbenza  people 
have  been  strongly  opposed  to  the  Gospel,  but  some  day  the 
truth  will  become  known. 

The  kindness  shown  by  the  people  of  Tungwa-Makuta  to 
Thomas  Comber  in  the  early  days  made  us  wish  to  do  some- 
thing for  them  ; their  town  was  fifty  or  sixty  miles  to  the 
south  of  us.  I had  met  Kusakana,  the  chief,  in  1882,  and  had 
promised  him  a visit.  In  the  end  of  1889  the  four  missionaries 
at  Wathen  divided  the  surrounding  country  into  four  districts, 
and  each  took  charge  of  a district.  My  own  district  lay  to 
the  south,  and  included  Tungwa.  In  1889  Kusakana  came 
again  to  Ngombe,  and  once  more  urged  that  I should  visit  his 
town.  I had  other  engagements  at  the  time,  and  could  not 
go  ; but  I sent  Nlemvo  with  him  to  spy  out  the  land.  At 
one  town  on  the  road  the  people  wanted  to  kill  him,  because 
he  was  in  the  service  of  a white  man.  Others  thought  that 
it  would  be  a foolish  thing  to  do,  so  they  allowed  him  to  pass. 
He  took  notes  of  the  road,  and  brought  back  a good  report. 


STANLEY  FA1,LS  (see  i>age  289) 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION:  1S87-99  341 


In  1890  I was  able  to  go  myself,  and  to  take  my  wife  with 
me.  There  were  no  special  incidents  to  mark  the  journey  to 
Tungwa ; the  people  who  were  going  to  kill  Nlemvo  raised 
no  objections  to  our  passing.  Food  was  scarce  over  a great 
part  sf  the  way,  because  elephants , were  so  common,  and 
wrought  such  havoc  in  the  plantations.  In  some  towns  we 
were  well  received,  and  the  people  were  very  friendly — 
delighted  above  all  to  see  a white  lady.  The  men  would 
crowd  round  me  to  shake  hands ; then  they  told  the  women 
folk  to  go  and  shake  hands  with  my  wife.  ‘ Go  and  shake 
hands  with  her ; she  is  one  of  yourselves.’  One  or  two 
women  would  venture,  then  all  would  come,  and  they  would 
say,  ‘You  men  have  your  white  man,  and  we  our  white 
woman.  Nkento  eto! — our  woman,  our  woman!’  It  was 
not  so  in  every  town.  Half  an  hour  after  one  of  the  best 
receptions,  we  came  to  a town,  and  on  the  outskirts  the 
women  fled. 

We  passed  the  Makuta  market-place — a clearing  about  400 
yards  in  circumference,  with  a few  bushes,  and  some  large 
trees  of  a .species  of  ficus,  which  are  commonly  planted  for 
shade.  There,  every  four  days,  the  people  met  from  far  and 
near  towns. 

Very  near  to  the  market  was  the  great  wood  in  which  was 
the  town  of  Makuta,  where  Comber  was  shot ; we  passed  it  at  a 
distance  of  half  a mile,  a valley  intervening,  then  crossed  a 
stream, and  over  a ridge,  and  before  us  lay  a very  flat  plain  of  five 
miles  wide.  On  the  other  side  was  Tungwa,  our  destination. 

About  four  o’clock  in  the  morning  we  heard  a wailing  in 
the  town  across  the  valley,  and  learned  that  a man  of  the 
town  had  died  of  small-pox  in  the  hut  which  they  had  put 
up  in  the  jungle.  Makuta  had  been  suffering  terribly,  and 
this,  as  well  as  all  their  woes  for  the  last  ten  years,  was  put 
down  to  be  a punishment  for  the  shooting  of  Comber.  The)'^ 
believed  that  God  was  angry  with  them.  Their  chief,  Bwaka- 
matu,  died  very  soon  after  the  crime,  and  the  once  very 
populous  town  was  then  of  very  ordinary  dimensions,  and 
had  only  recently  been  ravaged  with  small-pox 

Before  we  could  start  in  the  morning  the  son  of  Kusakana 


342 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


and  another  boy  had  risked  capture  on  the  road  to  come  and 
meet  us.  After  nearly  two  hours  we  reached  Tungwa.  Our 
reception  was  hearty,  and  we  were  shown  a fine  house.  Some 
fifty  or  sixty  women,  beside  men  and  boys,  sat  down  to  watch 
the  preparation  of  the  house  and  the  meal  ; meanwhile  we 
chatted  with  our  new  friends.  The  town  is  built  on  the 
banks  of  a small  river,  the  Lulewa,  and  is  better  described 
as  a township,  for  our  friend  Kusakana  was  only  chief  of  part 
of  it.  It  takes  eighteen  minutes  to  walk  through  the  town 
itself,  but  the  banks  of  the  Lulewa  are  lined  with  small  towns 
for  several  miles.  We  stayed  there  eleven  days. 

In  the  morning  at  seven  o’clock  we  had  breakfast,  then 
a morning  service — singing,  prayer,  and  an  address  : this 
was  sometimes  very  w'ell  attended,  but  varied  ; next,  medicine 
to  those  who  could  come  for  it.  Then  Binta,  a son  of  the 
chief  of  the  town  when  Comber  visited  Tungwa,  told  me 
of  some  one  ill  in  a suburb  fifteen  minutes  distant.  He 
carried  my  medicine-case,  and  off  we  went  to  see  the  patient. 
Then  he  told  me  of  another,  then  another ; it  was  generally 
twelve  o’clock  before  I was  back.  We  scarcely  finished 
lunch  before  more  people  needed  medicine  ; they  had  come 
in  from  neighbouring  towns,  or  had  been  too  late  for  the 
morning  doctoring.  While  I was  attending  to  them,  Binta 
would  come  and  say,  ‘ Y ou  did  not  see  So-and-so,  to  whom 
you  gave  medicine  yesterday.’  So  once  more  he  would  pilot 
me  off,  carrying  the  case.  He  was  a fine,  bright  lad — such 
an  amount  of  life  and  fun. 

It  was  fairly  late  in  the  afternoon  before  I could  sit  down, 
then  I was  generally  tired  ; and,  after  a little  time  at  charting 
out  the  district  round,  or  reading,  the  table  was  spread  for 
our  evening  meal  ; then  evening  prayers  with  all  who  came. 
My  wife  superintended  the  purchase  of  food  for  ourselves 
and  men,  chatted  with  the  women,  nursed  the  babies,  and 
made  many  friends.  She  had  been  having  such  a spell  at 
schooling  at  Wathen,  that  there  was  an  understanding  that 
this  stay  at  Tungwa  was  to  be  a holiday ; but  she  set  the 
elder  boys  who  had  come  with  us  to  teach  the  younger  boys, 
and  to  take  an  alphabet  class  with  the  town  boys.  So  we  gave 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


343 


ourselves  up  altogether  to  the  people.  There  was  a great 
deal  of  sickness  in  the  town  ; for,  beside  the  ordinary  woes 
and  ailments,  the  season  was  very  cold  : nearly  every  one  had 
a cold,  and  some  were  very  ill.  It  was  very  sad  to  see 
the  hold  which  the  terrible  superstition  of  witchcraft  had 
upon  them — everything  was  attributed  to  it.  If  a man  was 
sick  and  starving  to  death,  not  having  any  appetite  for  the 
ordinary  food,  there  \yas  no  attempt  to  make  anything  tasty : 

‘ What  is  the  use  of  troubling  about  food  ? the  sick  man 
is  bewitched,  and  until  the  spell  is  broken  or  taken  off, 
medicine,  food,  and  everything  is  of  no  avail.’ 

The  second  day  at  Tungwa  I was  walking  in  the  town  with 
Kusakana.  I said  to  him,  ‘ I must  go  back  to  the  house  ; I have 
a lamp  to  clean.’  ‘ A what — a lamp  ? What  lamp  ? what  is  it 
for?’  ‘A  lamp  with  which  we  make  beautiful  pictures  come 
upon  a white  sheet ; but  it  is  no  use  to  show  such  a thing 
here ; you  can  only  see  it  at  night,  and  every  one  would  be 
frightened.’  His  curiosity  was  roused  ; he  had  heard  of 
something  of  the  kind.  He  came  to  the  house  to  see  it.  I 
cleaned  it,  and  showed  him  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  afraid 
of ; but,  of  course,  it  would  never  do  to  show  it.  He  begged  to 
have  it  shown  that  very  evening  ; so  the  news  went  through 
the  town.  The  best  compounds  are  enclosed  by  lines  of  tall, 
straight,  poplar-like  trees.  I soon  found  a place  to  hang  the 
sheet,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  the  lamp  was  arranged  and 
lit.  A few  gathered.  I put  a chromotrope  on  the  screen, 
then  yells  and  screams  of  delight  for  ten  minutes  brought 
a crowd  of  3C0  or  400  quickly  together.  After  a few 
preliminary  pictures,  which  sufficed  to  work  off  a great  deal 
of  superfluous  energy,  the  people  began  to  quiet  down,  and 
for  one  and  a half  hours  they  sat  quietly  and  intensely 
interested  while  I talked  to  them  about  the  series  of  Old 
Testament  pictures.  I had  to  show  the  New  Testament 
series  the  next  night  to  about  500,  and  again  on  the  evening 
of  the  market  day  to  about  300,  many  of  whom  were 
strangers. 

It  was  a great  opportunity  to  present  the  Gospel  to  them  ; 
so  many  subjects,  phases,  and  aspects  present  themselves  with 


344 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


such  a series  of  pictures.  It  was  only  at  Tungwa  that  I could 
exhibit.  I offered  to  do  so  at  the  second  stage  from  Wathen, 
but  it  was  declined  on  account  of  the  timidity  of  the  people. 
The  difficulty  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  must  be  shown  at 
night,  and  things  at  night  are  uncanny. 

After  eleven  days  we  started  homewards.  Every  one  was 
sorry.  Many  boys  wanted  to  come  with  us  to  live  for  a few 
years  at  Wathen  ; only  six  could  do  so  ; some  said  that  they 
would  not  rest  quietly  in  the  town.  The  people  begged  us  to 
return  soon  ; it  was  really  a hard  parting.  A seventh  boy, 
Kalu,  came  with  us  the  first  day  on  the  road,  to  ask  his  uncle’s 
permission  to  come  to  the  station,  but  did  not  get  it.  So, 
loading  up  the  new  boys  with  extra  stores  of  food  for  the 
road,  we  started.  We  did  not  return  by  the  road  by  which 
we  had  come,  but  instead  of  going  due  north  we  turned  to 
the  west  for  two  days  to  Kinsuka,  thence  to  Kimpese,  which 
is  now  a station  on  the  railway. 

From  that  point  we  travelled  for  two  days  along  the  foot  of 
the  precipices  which  form  the  escarpment  of  our  lofty  plateau. 
In  many  places  it  towered  800  to  1,000  feet  above  us,  almost 
perpendicular.  It  is  a wonderful  formation,  which  puzzles 
me  much.  At  the  end  of  the  second  day  along  the  base,  we 
ascended  to  the  top  at  Kongo  Vungu,  and  so  on  to  Wathen. 
It  was  a tour  of  120  miles,  which  opened  a wide  district  to 
our  influence.  I paid  them  another  visit  four  months  later. 

Many  such  itinerations  were  made  by  each  of  the  four  of 
us  in  our  districts  round  Wathen,  staying  here  and  there  in 
friendly  towns.  Percy  Comber  established  a good  connexion 
with  another  town  called  Tungwa,  four  hours  to  the  east  of 
Wathen,  and  made  many  trips  to  it,  using  it  as  a base  for 
further  operations.  Davies  crossed  the  river  and  visited  the 
north  bank,  which  is  French  territory.  Cameron  worked  to 
the  west,  and  so  we  began  to  get  the  country  in  hand. 

In  travelling  about  we  sought  to  get  some  boys  from  the 
principal  towns  in  the  districts,  and  soon'found  that  in  those 
towns  from  which  we  had  boys  we  rapidly  gained  influence. 
Whenever  we  visited  those  towns,  we  took  their  boys  with  us, 
and  were  greeted  as  though  we  ourselves  belonged  to  the 


THE  CATARACT  REGION ; 1887-99 


345 


towns.  The  difference  between  the  town  of  one  of  our  boys 
and  one  with  which  we  had  no  such  connexion  was  very 
marked.  In  the  latter  the  people  were  strange,  shy,  and  in- 
different ; in  the  former  they  were  hearty,  homely,  and 
interested.  They  would  wonder  at  the  change  which  had 
come  over  the  boys.  Very  often  a boy  comes  to  us  an  undis- 
ciplined, rough  young  cub,  wearing  a rag  of  a cloth,  dirty, 
grimed,  with  a grey  black  skin,  scratched,  and  generally  with 
some  measure  of  skin  disease,  or  a sort  of  itch,  which  is 
known  on  the  coast  as  ‘ craw-craw.’  A few  months  of  cleanly 
ways,  regular  feeding  and  washing,  sleeping  under  a blanket 
at  night,  healthy  exercise,  plenty  of  fun  and  play  in  playtime, 
school  and  work  at  proper  times,  and  the  bright  happy  life  of 
the  station — these  have  developed  a well-favoured  appearance, 
a healthy  clean  brown  skin,  and  a new  intelligence  beaming 
in  his  face.  He  is  an  altogether  changed  lad,  and  has  much 
to  tell  them,  and  many  questions  to  ask  of  the  home  folk.  It 
does  one  good  to  see  the  happiness  and  the  change. 

The  boy,  thus  on  a visit  home  for  a day,  would  bring  his 
old  playmates  to  see  me,  take  me  to  chat  with  his  mother, 
and  to  ask  her  opinion  of  her  boy.  His  father  would  be  no 
longer  timid  or  indifferent  ; his  uncle  would  discuss  with  me 
the  family  troubles,  and  the  oppression  and  extortion  to 
which  they  were  subjected  by  others.  To  a hamlet  near  by 
the  boy  would  take  me  to  see  his  married  sister  who  had 
a baby  six  weeks  old,  which  had  arrived  since  he  had  been 
with  us.  He  is  very  proud  of  his  little  nephew,  who  would 
some  day  be  his  heir.  I could  not  fail  to  admire  the  chubby 
little  thing,  and  say  some  kind  words  in  the  home.  Then  an 
aunt  who  lived  twenty  minutes  away  over  the  ridge,  down  in 
the  next  valley,  had  a bad  ulcer — would  I take  her  some 
medicine  ? The  aunt  and  her  friends  were  pleased  at  the 
visit,  and  there  was  a chance  for  a little  talk  there.  In  this 
way  one  got  to  know  the  people,  and  to  like  them.  What- 
ever one  might  feel  as  to  the  people  in  the  aggregate,  their 
superstition  and  violence,  sin  and  misery,  this  homely  inter- 
course tends  to  draw  out  one’s  soul  towards  them,  to  enable 
one  to  realize  their  deep  need  of  the  Saviour,  and  to  make 

VOL.  II.  z 


346 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


them  know  something  of  Him  as  dimly  imaged  in  us.  With- 
out such  contact  with  the  people,  even  a missionary  might 
easily  become  hard  and  unsympathetic,  aye,  and  hopeless  too. 
At  the  same  time,  such  visits  break  down  the  barriers  between 
the  people  and  ourselves,  and  narrow  the  gulf  between  us. 
They  yield  also  many  precious  opportunities  to  commend  the 
Gospel  to  our  hearers.  One  or  two  such  visits  change  entirely 
the  attitude  of  the  people,  and  prepare  their  hearts  to  listen 
to  the  message  which  we  have  come  to  deliver. 

Other  town  boys  become  anxious  to  go  back  with  us.  They 
would  like  to  have  the  missionary  for  their  friend,  to  wear 
a nice  clean  cloth  and  ‘jumper,’  like  their  quondam  playmate. 
They  have  heard  so  much  of  the  happy  life  at  Wathen  that 
they  want  to  go  too.  They  urge  the  matter  with  their 
mothers  and  friends.  Sometimes  it  is  easy  to  arrange,  but  at 
other  times  the  boys  are  flatly  and  obstinately  refused  when 
I ask  for  them.  It  often  happens,  however,  that  a man 
wishes  to  have  us  for  his  friends,  and  for  that  reason  brings 
his  nephew  to  live  with  us  ; others  have  the  sense  to  see 
that  a boy  so  trained  will  be  useful  later  on.  Some  men 
have  so  learned  to  admire  Nlemvo  (my  literary  assistant) 
that  they  have  brought  nephews,  relatives,  or  slaves  to  be 
trained,  that  they  may  become  like  him. 

Thus  in  a variety  of  ways  our  boys  have  been  gathered  to 
the  station,  and  our  desire  is  to  get  some  from  all  the  wide 
district.  What  has  come  of  it,  and  how  far  our  aims  have 
been  accomplished,  the  story  must  show. 

I was  busy  translating  the  New  Testament  in  1891,  and 
could  not  make  many  itinerations  in  a year,  but  from  Saturday 
to  Monday  I frequently  managed  to  visit  the  district  nearer 
to  hand,  going  two  to  four  hours  from  the  station  on  Saturday, 
and  sleeping  in  some  town  ; from  it  visit  others  on  the  Sunday, 
and  return  on  Monday  to  the  translation  work.  This  has 
been  the  endeavour  continually,  although  it  is  not  always 
possible.  My  colleagues  got  out  into  their  districts  as  often 
as  they  could,  for  longer  or  shorter  trips,  and  so  the  work  pro- 
gressed. The  further  tours  were  undertaken  in  the  dry  season 
(May  20-September  20),  or  the  ‘little  dries’  in  January. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


347 


In  the  dry  season  of  1891  I visited  Tungwa  again,  but  first 
went  to  Kinsuka,  halfway  on  the  direct  road  to  San  Salvador. 
The  second  chief  of  the  township  had  begged  that  a teacher 
should  be  sent  to  live  in  his  town.  We  laid  the  matter  before 
the  little  native  Church,  and  Lo  volunteered.  He  had  been 
for  some  years  the  personal  servant  of  Philip  Davies,  and  had 
accompanied  him  to  England  when  he  took  his  first  furlough. 
I.o  knew  how  we  leave  our  homes  and  friends,  and  give  our- 
selves to  foreign  missionary  work,  in  obedience  to  the  Lord’s 
command,  and  for  the  enlightenment  and  blessing  of  his 
people.  He  had  received  a good  education  from  the  mission, 
and  had  learned  to  know  and  trust  in  Jesus  himself ; he  felt 
that  he  ought  to  be  ready  to  make  sacrifice  himself.  He 
was  senior  teacher  in  the  station  school,  and  for  that,  and  his 
other  work,  he  was  in  receipt  of  about  150  brass  rods  per 
month.  The  Church  was  not  rich,  and  it  was  felt  that  not 
more  than  100  rods  per  month  could  be  given  to  evangelists  ; 
Lo  was  willing  to  undertake  the  work  at  two-thirds  of  the 
salary  which  he  was  then  getting,  and  did  so  gladly.  He 
went  with  me  to  Kinsuka  ; but  we  found  that  the  chief  who 
had  begged  for  a teacher  was  gone  on  a trading  expedition. 
Lo  remained  in  his  new  home  while  I went  on  to  Tungwa 
with  the  boys,  who  had  been  with  us  for  a year  at  Wathen. 

The  senior  chief  of  Tungwa,  who  had  been  ill  when  I was 
there  the  previous  year,  was  quite  well.  All  attributed  his 
recovery  to  my  care  and  treatment,  and  I was  known  far  and 
wide  as  the  white  man  who  had  cured  Dom  Daniel.  I stayed 
there  some  days,  and  then,  as  I wished  to  make  a detour  and 
return  to  Lo,  I left  the  Tungwa  boys  to  go  back  to  Wathen 
direct.  With  them  went  a new  boy  or  two  ; one  of  these  was 
Bukusu,  who  later  on  added  a further  characteristic  to  our 
Wathen  work,  which  must  be  referred  to  a little  further  on. 

I then  struck  twenty  miles  to  the  south,  crossed  the  State 
frontier,  and  back  to  Kinsuka,  thus  visiting  a new  wide 
district.  When  about  fifteen  miles  from  Kinsuka,  I stopped 
for  lunch  among  some  very  friendly  people  ; a good  number 
gathered,  and  asked  me  to  tell  them  ‘ God’s  palaver.’  I did  so. 
After  the  more  formal  talk,  the  men  came  to  chat  with  me  as 


348 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


I ate  my  lunch  ; and  when  that  was  over,  I left  the  boys  to 
clear  away  and  tie  up  the  loads,  while  I went  to  some  houses 
near  by  to  give  some  medicine.  Just  as  I was  giving  the 
last  counsels  as  to  treatment  after  I had  gone  away,  I heard 
a man  shouting  to  the  women,  and  vowing  dreadful  things. 
The  women  rushed  away  ; the  men  stood  up,  and  some  went 
away.  Surprised,  I asked  what  was  the  matter,  and  noticed 
a man  whom  we  had  passed  on  the  road  going  away  in  an 
excited  manner. 

‘ Oh,  it  is  that  wild  Kianda  come  back  from  Ndanda.  He 
is  drunk.  Go  away  as  quickly  as  you  can.  He  is  gone  to 
get  his  gun.  Oh,  what  a shame  it  is ! Such  a kind  white 
man  too  ; he  has  just  been  teaching  us  about  God,  and  giving 
medicine  to  the  sick.  What  does  he  want  to  shoot  him  for  ? 
What  a shame  it  is ! Go  away  as  quickly  as  you  can ; 
we  will  help  you  ! ’ There  was  great  shouting  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  town,  and  the  people  begged  me  to  go  away 
quietly.  My  carriers  and  boys  were  in  a great  fright.  In 
their  hurry  and  fear  they  could  not  cram  all  the  things  into 
the  canteen,  and  a lot  of  tins  lay  upon  the  ground.  We 
bundled  them  into  the  hammock  ; one  friendly  native  took 
up  the  canteen  pan,  another  my  spare  hat  and  walking-stick, 
another  my  tin  medicine-case,  and  so  they  led  us  out  of  the 
town.  It  was  a very  large  town  ; I thought  that  we  should 
never  get  out  of  it.  I told  the  boys  to  go  as  quickly  as  they 
could,  no  running,  scattering,  or  breaking  the  file ; this  they 
did.  At  every  group  of  houses  there  were  demonstrations  of 
regret  and  apology  ; but  no  one  suggested  to  quiet  the  fellow, 
or  stop  any  party  of  his  followers.  Women  and  men  followed 
wringing  their  hands,  and  unfeignedly  sorry,  but  individually 
helpless. 

I felt  half  ashamed  at  leaving  in  this  way,  and  yet  what 
else  could  I have  done  ? One  drunken  man,  and  he  nobody 
of  importance,  yet  the  terror  of  the  town,  and  no  one  with 
sufficient  energy  or  public  spirit  to  stop  him ! This  is 
thoroughly  African. 

For  three  hours  we  had  to  force  a way  along  an  unused 
path,  across  which  the  jungle  was  tightly  matted.  Often  it 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


349 


was  difficult  to  tell  where  the  road  was,  for  it  was  obliterated 
by  the  tangle  of  the  eight-foot  grass.  The  road  wound  about 
in  a valley  between  two  rows  of  the  great  limestone  rocks 
already  described.  The  scenery  was  grand,  and  often  I rolled 
down,  caught  in  the  jungle,  as  I looked  up  at  the  beautiful 
rocks.  For  two  and  a half  hours  I forced  the  road  myself, 
for  the  carriers  were  all  loaded,  and  the  guide  behind  ; and 
when  he  did  come  up  and  relieve  me,  I was  glad  very  soon 
to  reassume  the  forcing  myself,  for  he  had  a gun  with  him 
(his  own),  and  every  minute  I feared  that  it  might  catch  and 
go  off.  At  five  o’clock  we  sighted  across  the  plain  the  trees 
of  Kongo-di’  elemba,  and  just  at  sundown  entered  the  little 
town,  and  put  up  for  the  night. 

At  Kinsuka  we  found  the  chief  returned  from  his  trading, 
and  he  gladly  undertook  to  find  Lo  a house,  and  promised 
great  things.  There  were  some  fourteen  towns  which  make 
up  the  township  of  Kinsuka,  but  a year  previously  small- 
pox had  carried  off  700  of  the  people — nearly  half  of  the 
population ! 

Lo  carried  on  the  work  at  Kinsuka  for  three  or  four  years, 
but  the  mutual  jealousy  of  the  chiefs  prevented  the  formation 
of  anything  but  a small  school.  Lo  visited  the  district  round, 
and  one  or  two  of  the  people  were  converted,  but  they  died 
soon  afterwards  with  ‘ sleep  sickness.’  The  work  at  Kinsuka 
was  otherwise  a failure  ; we  have  reason  to  believe  that  it 
was  blocked  there  by  the  bad  feeling  among  the  chiefs. 
We  can  well  afford  to  chronicle  our  failures,  for  they  have 
been  comparatively  so  few.  Lo  was  not  to  blame  for  his 
non-success,  so  far  as  we  know  ; he  did  a noble  thing  in  giving 
up  his  good  position,  and  the  happy  life  at  Wathen,  for  this 
outpost  work,  at  two-thirds  of  the  pay  which  he  had  pre- 
viously been  receiving.  He  did  it,  and  in  so  doing  set  the 
example  of  self-sacrifice  which  others  have  followed  since, 
and  gave  character  and  tone  to  the  whole  work  of  the 
Wathen  Church.  Lo  was  a very  gifted  speaker  ; his  addresses 
were  always  interesting,  and  exhibited  a great  deal  of 
thought.  His  father  was  the  king’s  spokesman  and  public 
orator  at  San  Salvador.  The  last  news  that  we  hav  of 


KINSUKA  VILLAGE 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99  351 


Lo  (1899)  tells  us  that  he  is  dying  of  ‘sleep  sickness’  at  San 
Salvador. 

This  terrible  disease — sleep  sickness — has  wrought  great 
havoc  in  the  country  ; whole  districts  have  been  decimated 
by  it,  and  yet  there  is  no  definite  knowledge  of  its  true 
nature,  still  less  of  any  palliative  or  curative  treatment.  It 
comes  in  a district  as  a slowly-spreading  epidemic.  Its  first 
symptom  may  be  a singularly  unreasonable  outbreak  of 
temper,  or  some  such  sign  of  cerebral  disturbance.  Some- 
times nothing  is  noted  except  an  unwonted  drowsiness  ; but 
as  it  is  often  complicated  with  feverishness,  it  is  regarded 
as  a continued  fever.  The  symptom  may  disappear  after 
a while,  and  then  recur,  and  this  at  shortening  intervals,  until 
the  drowsy  habit  is  confirmed.  Suspicion  of  its  nature  is 
expressed,  but  the  person  suspected  stoutly  denies  that  there 
is  any  ground  for  such  an  idea.  They  deny  so  positively 
any  drowsiness,  or  even  that  they  have  slept,  that  it  seems 
as  though  they  were  not  conscious  of  it.  There  appears  to 
be  a measure  of  moral  obliquity  with  it.  The  drowsiness 
increases  until  a man  sleeps  at  his  work ; as  the  disease 
takes  further  hold,  he  sleeps  until  he  is  roused  for  meals  ; 
eventually  he  cannot  be  roused  for  that  even,  and  so  dies. 
Long  before  the  end  comes,  the  sufferer  is  in  such  an  apathetic 
condition  that  he  does  not  trouble  to  take  out  his  jiggers, 
and  in  consequence  they  burrow  by  hundreds  in  his  feet ; 
he  becomes  anaemic  ; a serous  suffusion  causes  fugitive  swell- 
ings, and  sores  break  out.  The  man  lies  and  sleeps  and 
does  not  wash,  so  that  with  his  dirt,  and  jiggers,  and  sores, 
he  becomes  a pitiable  object ; fever  recurs  ever  and  again 
to  add  to  his  discomfort  and  suffering,  if  indeed  there  is 
much  consciousness  with  it. 

The  disease  appears  and  disappears  from  time  to  time  in 
Africa,  and  so  far  no  case  is  known  of  a white  man  having 
been  attacked  by  it.  Half-caste  children  of  Moorish  and 
negro  parents  have  been  affected,  but  it  appears  to  be  a dis- 
ease peculiar  to  the  African  negro.  The  disease  has  been 
studied  carefully  by  medical  men  in  Africa,' but  no  satisfactory 
clue  as  to  its  nature  has  yet  been  found.  Sev^eral  Congo 


352 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


natives  have  suffered  and  died  in  England,  two  having  been 
brought  home  by  Mr.  Richards,  of  the  Manteke  Station  of 
the  American  Baptist  Mission  : they  died  in  Charing  Cross 
Hospital  in  1899.  Some  years  previously,  a good  Christian 
native,  finding  himself  affected  by  the  disease,  came  to 
England,  in  the  hope  that  living  or  dead  some  knowledge 
might  be  gained  from  his  case.  He  died  in  the  London 
Hospital. 

Dr.  Patrick  Manson,  the  highest  authority  on  tropical 
diseases  in  England,  has  suggested  that  the  disease  is  due  to 
the  presence  in  the  blood  of  a minute  wormlike  parasite,  the 
filaria  sanguinis  hoininis  of  the  diurnal  type.  It  is  a theory 
of  great  possibilities,  but  it  is  hard  to  make  it  fit  in  with 
all  the  observed  phenomena  ; at  the  same  time,  the  presence 
of  the  filaria  is  in  no  way  new,  either  in  whites  or  blacks. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  it  is  due  to  poisoning  by  the 
eating  of  raw  manioc,  which  is  rich  in  prussic  acid  ; but 
that  habit  existed  long  before  the  epidemic  appeared.  The 
mosquito  may  be  the  agent,  but  it  too  was  a pest  long  before 
the  disease  appeared.  It  may  lie  dormant  in  the  system  for 
many  years,  and  then  develop  ; for  a fatal  case  occurred 
in  America  of  a Congo  native  who  had  been  some  years 
away  from  Africa. 

The  disease  must  be  contagious  in  some  obscure  way ; 
and  the  opinion  is  gaining  ground  of  late  that  it  is  spread 
by  the  saliva.  An  old  chief  falls  sick  of  the  disease,  and 
those  who  have  long  met  with  him  daily,  and  drunk  palm- 
wine  from  the  same  cup  day  after  day,  as  they  met  to  discuss 
the  local  palavers,  soon  follow  suit.  They  too  sicken  and 
die.  The  loving-cup  in  such  a case  is  the  only  means  ot 
contact,  for  they  do  not  shake  hands.  Another  case  we 
have  noted  in  which  a family  became  extinct.  A girl  died 
of  the  disease,  and  her  mother  who  nursed  her  died  also 
later  on.  When  the  mother  began  to  exhibit  symptoms  of 
the  disease,  one  of  her  sons,  who  was  cook  on  our  station, 
fetched  his  little  brother  away  to  the  station.  After  a while 
the  little  brother  died  in  the  same  way,  and  then  another 
brother  in  the  town,  an  active  trader  in  comfortable  cir- 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


353 


cumstances.  Last  of  all  the  cook  himself  died.  In  this  case 
the  circumstances  of  those  affected  were  very  different ; if 
there  had  been  a measure  of  squalor  in  the  case  of  the  mother 
and  daughter,  it  was  not  so  with  the  elder  sons.  The  cook 
lived  under  the  best  of  circumstances.  They  had  evidently 
eaten  together,  and  as  they  pulled  and  ate  with  their  fingers 
from  a pudding  in  common,  the  saliva  on  the  fingers  must 
have  conveyed  the  contagion. 

When  the  disease  appeared  first  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Manteke  Station  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union, 
the  Christian  natives  died  at  a terrible  rate,  until  fifty  or  sixty 
per  cent,  of  their  number  were  dead.  It  is  believed  that  the 
communion  cup  conveyed  the  contagion.  We  are  now  careful 
to  isolate  those  affected,  and  those  who  nurse  them  are  enjoined 
to  be  very  careful,  and  to  wash  their  hands  before  eating,  and 
never  to  eat  or  drink  with  the  sufferer.  Where  such  precautions 
are  taken,  no  evil  results  are  noted.  In  the  neighbourhood  of 
Wathen  whole  districts  have  been  almost  depopulated  by  it ; 
so  too  at  San  Salvador,  and  on  the  upper  river ; in  fact,  the 
mischief  seems  to  be  working  throughout  the  whole  country. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  further  light  on  this  obscure  but 
terrible  disease  will  soon  be  found. 

Percy  Comber  came  out  to  the  Congo  in  1885,  and  returned 
from  his  only  furlough  in  1889.  In  June  of  1890  Miss  Annie 
Smith  came  out  to  him,  and  they  were  married  at  Matadi. 
Mrs.  Percy  Comber  entered  very  heartily  into  the  work  of  the 
station,  assisted  in  the  school,  and  made  good  progress  in  the 
language.  We  rejoiced  in  the  accession  of  an  earnest  worker 
to  our  staff.  In  the  end  of  the  year  her  health  failed  ; repeated 
fevers  so  reduced  her,  that  her  return  home  became  imperative. 
She  succumbed,  however,  to  a further  attack  of  fever  at 
Banana,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  while  waiting  for  a home- 
going steamer.  It  happened  that  a steamer  was  going  for 
repairs  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  very  shortly  after,  and 
Percy  Comber  went  there  and  back  in  her  with  Lawson 
Forfeitt.  This  very  fortunate  change  set  him  up,  and  enabled 
him  to  return  to  his  work  with  good  energy.  On  January  20, 
1892,  he  was  attacked  by  a slight  fever  ; by  midnight  haemo- 


354 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


globinuria  had  set  in,  and  was  abnormally  intense.  Fifty 
hours  later  (January  23)  he  passed  away. 

The  loss  of  Percy  Comber  was  a very  sore  blow  to  the 
mission,  for  he  was  much  beloved.  He  was  of  a very  bright, 
hearty,  affectionate  disposition,  active  and  energetic.  He  soon 
won  the  hearts  and  confidence  of  the  people,  and  was  specially 
loved  by  the  boys  of  our  large  school.  He  had  done  good 
work  in  itineration,  having  travelled  a great  deal  in  his 
district.  He  was  a good  practical  all-round  man,  and  earnest 
with  all.  So  passed  away  the  third  and  last  of  the  brothers 
Comber,  who  with  their  sister,  Mrs.  Wright  Hay,  laid  down 
their  lives  in  African  mission  work.  With  them  too  we  must 
remember  Mrs.  Thomas  Comber,  who  died  at  San  Salvador 
in  1879,  and  Mrs.  Percy  Comber,  whose  death  we  have  just 
noted  — six  names  which  will  be  long  remembered.  The 
story  of  the  Combers  is  unique  in  missionary  records. 
Mr.  Comber,  senior,  is  .still  (1899)  living  in  California,  where 
he  has  for  some  time  made  his  home.  He  counts  it  a privi- 
lege and  a joy  that  he  was  able  to  give  four  of  his  children  to 
this  blessed  service. 

Percy  Comber  had  just  arranged  for  the  starting  of  another 
evangelistic  outpost  in  his  district.  An  active  trader  and 
sub-chief  of  Tungwa  kia  Londe,  a town  four  hours  to  the 
east  of  us,  had  built,  at  his  own  expense,  a fine  bamboo  house 
to  be  used  as  a school,  and  had  begged  for  a teacher.  The 
chief  arrived  the  same  day  that  Percy  died,  and  was  much 
distressed.  He  said  that  he  had  built  the  school-house  for 
nothing  ; Percy  Comber  would  never  come  and  sit  down  in 
Tungwa  again.  We  told  him  that  another  missionary  would 
come  in  his  place.  The  chief  replied,  ‘ Oh,  but  perhaps  he 
will  not  be  as  friendly  and  as  good  as  Mr.  Comber.  He  was 
like  one’s  own  brother,  you  know.  How  can  we  have  another 
like  him  ? ’ 

One  of  our  Church  members  volunteered  to  go  as  evangelist 
to  Tungwa  kia  Londe,  and  following  Lo’s  example,  he  went 
for  a less  allowance  than  he  was  receiving  on  the  station. 
He  thus  commenced  an  interesting  work  which  has  borne 
good  fruit. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


355 


Shortly  after  the  death  of  Percy  Comber  I took  my 
second  furlough,  and  completed  in  England  the  translation 
of  the  New  Testament  by  the  help  of  my  faithful  assistant 
Nlemvo.  This  was  published  by  the  British’ and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  in  1893.  The  first  edition  was  600  copies. 
Eighteen  months  later  another  edition  of  1,000  was  printed. 
These  books  are  not  given  away  to  the  natives  ; all  are  sold, 
and  the  cost  is  remitted  from  time  to  time  to  the  Bible  Society. 
There  is  no  need  to  sell  under  cost  price,  as  in  India  and 
China.  Our  literature  is  all  published  on  a sound  commercial 
basis,  and  pays  its  way. 

The  literary  work  which  had  been  earried  on  by  us  had 
revealed  some  4,000  new  words,  and  by  means  of  it,  it 
became  possible  to  solve  and  explain  some  grammatical 
obscurities  ; so  an  Appendix  to  my  Dictionary  and  Grammar 
was  published,  embodying  the  new  words  and  the  further 
grammatical  notes,  thus  bringing  the  words  found  up  to 
14,000.  These  might  have  been  multiplied  almost  indefinitely, 
had  the  derivative  words  been  noted,  but  that  was  unnecessary, 
for  the  rules  of  their  formation  were  regular.  My  wife  had 
prepared  a Bible  History,  and  a series  of  1,500  arithmetical 
problems  ; these  were  now  published.  Of  the  former,  the 
Religious  Tract  Society  published  an  edition  of  1,000,  also 
2000  each  of  a second  edition  of  my  wife’s  More  about  Jesus, 
and  a translation  of  the  Peep  of  Day  by  Nlemvo.  We  returned 
to  the  Congo  in  the  end  of  1893. 

In  May,  1891,  Miss  Silvey,  who  had  done  such  good  service 
at  Bolobo,  returned  to  the  Congo  to  become  the  wife  of 
George  Cameron  of  Wathen.  They  were  married  at  Matadi ; 
but  in  less  than  two  years — March  8,  1893 — Mrs.  Cameron 
died  of  haemoglobinuric  fever. 

Percy  Comber’s  place  had  been  filled  by  Sidney  Roberts 
Webb,  M.D.,  who  arrived  out  in  the  end  of  January,  1893. 
Dr.  Webb  had  come  as  medical  missionary.  He  had  been 
a very  earnest  worker  among  children  and  young  people  in 
England,  and  threw  his  whole  soul  into  the  Wathen  work. 
His  high  medical  qualifications  enabled  him  to  extend  very 
considerably  the  medical  work  of  the  station,  and  he  had  some- 


356 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


times  as  many  as  120  patients  to  see  in  a morning.  People 
came  from  long  distances  to  avail  themselves  of  his  skill.  The 
King  of  Congo  came  from  San  Salvador, as  has  already  been  told. 

Dr.  Webb  was  by  no  means  a strong  man,  but  during  the 
second  year  of  his  stay  at  Wathen  he  enjoyed  better  health 
than  he  had  done  in  England.  He  had  a few  simple  fevers, 
but  his  general  health  was  better  than  usual.  After  a little 
more  than  two  years  of  work  Dr.  Webb  started  homeward, 
with  his  wife,  on  furlough.  As  they  neared  Matadi,  three  of 
Dr.  Webb’s  boys  fell  sick  ; two  of  them  had  to  be  helped  for 
a while  in  the  doctor’s  hammock,  and  another  child  needed 
such  help  later  on  in  the  day.  He  reached  the  first  station 
on  the  Congo  Railway,  fifteen  miles  out  from  Matadi,  very 
tired,  and  a fever  followed.  We  had  a small  store  and  house 
at  the  railway  station,  held  jointly  with  two  of  the  other 
missions,  and  there  the  doctor  stayed  for  three  days  ; mean- 
while Mrs.  Webb  fell  ill.  Happily,  they  had  communicated 
with  Underhill,  and  John  Pinnock  arrived  to  help  them. 
Next  day  they  went  down  by  train  to  Matadi,  and  so  reached 
Underhill.  There  haemoglobinuria  set  in,  and  the  doctor’s 
case  became  critical.  Lawson  Forfeitt  treated  him  on  the 
lines  which  he  wished,  and  the  following  day  the  serious 
symptom  disappeared,  but  he  was  very  weak.  Two  days 
later  he  was  able  to  be  put  on  board  an  English  steamer, 
homeward  bound  after  a call  at  Loanda.  High  fever  returned, 
and  the  next  day,  April  12,  1895,  he  died,  and  was  buried  at 
sea  off  Ambrizette. 

A bitter  wail  went  through  the  station  at  Wathen  when  the 
news  reached  us  ; the  doctor  was  so  much  loved  by  all.  He 
was  a deeply  earnest  man,  and  had  exercised  a great  influence 
over  the  boys  on  the  station  ; he  loved  them,  and  was  very 
anxious  to  lead  them  to  Christ.  His  first  address  in  Kongo, 
without  an  interpreter,  eleven  months  after  his  arrival,  was  the 
means  of  the  spiritual  awakening  of  three  of  the  boys.  So  it 
was  that  we  lost  a man  very  richly  endowed  with  the  gifts  and 
graces  most  useful  on  the  mission  field.  As  soon  as  possible 
his  place  was  filled  by  John  Bell,  who  arrived  out  five 
months  later. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


357 


At  the  time  that  Dr.  Webb  went  down  country  and  died, 
there  was  a great  deal  of  sickness  on  the  road  ; a terrible 
percentage  of  the  carriers  died.  Dr.  Webb’s  caravan  numbered 
forty  men  ; of  these,  three  died,  one  on  the  road,  and  two 
immediately  after  their  return  ; a fourth  would  have  died,  but 
for  two  months  of  careful  nursing  in  my  own  house.  All  the 
carriers  suffered  acutely  from  fever,  and  this  was  the  case  with 
all  caravans  on  the  road.  This  mortality  was  largely  increased 
by  the  improvidence  of  the  carriers  themselves.  Thousands 
of  men  were  engaged  in  transport  work  at  the  time,  but  very 
few  troubled  to  carry  enough  food  with  them,  or  money 
wherewith  to  buy  it.  As  a rule,  the  young  men  stayed  in 
their  towns  as  long  as  they  had  anything  to  buy  food  with ; 
when  that  failed,  they  borrowed  until  their  debts  became  too 
great.  Then  they  arranged  to  go  with  some  caravan  to  carry, 
and  received  ration  money  for  the  road.  This  would  be  partly 
used  up  in  the  towns,  and  the  rest  go  to  those  from  whom 
they  had  borrowed.  When  they  started  on  the  road  they 
lived  largely  on  palm  nuts  and  raw  cassava,  and  returned  to 
their  homes  in  a terribly  exhausted  condition.  With  the  influx 
of  cloth  gained  by  transporting  came  hunger,  for  wealth  made 
the  women  lazy ; they  preferred  to  buy  food  rather  than 
produce.  This  could  not  last  long ; the  gardens  came  to  an 
end,  new  supplies  not  being  planted  ; then  hunger  followed, 
and  sickness,  and  death.  Women  stayed  at  home  to  mourn, 
and  the  mischief  became  worse.  ‘ Sleep  sickness  ’ and  small- 
pox spread  into  the  district  thus  prepared  for  disaster,  and, 
what  with  one  trouble  and  another,  the  population  of  the 
cataract  region  is  not  more  than  half  of  what  it  was  fifteen 
years  ago.  The  railway  is  now  complete,  and  the  country 
will  adapt  itself  to  its  new  conditions. 

We  have  done  a great  deal  of  vaccination  with  very  re- 
markable results ; so  remarkable  that  the  natives,  slow  as 
they  are  to  adopt  new  things,  gladly  availed  themselves  of 
the  immunity  or  mitigation  thus  afforded.  We  commenced 
vaccinating  in  the  days  when  the  people  were  building  their 
hidden  towns,  and  the  women  were  very  timid  ; but  when 
they  saw  how  small-pox  died  out  when  the  people  were 


358 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


vaccinated,  the  people  came  in  crowds,  and  fought  for  places 
near  the  door  of  our  house.  In  other  conservative  towns, 
and  those  far  from  the  station,  the  people  are  not  vaccinated, 
and  when  small-pox  comes  the  death-rate  is  high.  We  have 
a couple  of  vaccine  tubes  sent  out  to  us  every  month,  and 
thus  are  always  ready  for  those  who  seek  it.  Small-pox 
sometimes  assumes  a mild  form,  probably  identical  with  what 
is  called  chicken-pox,  but  ever  and  again  it  reverts  to  the 
virulent  type,  and  kills  great  numbers.  Measles  is  not  un- 
common ; whooping-cough  is  rare,  but  known.  The  people 
suffer  much  from  ulcers,  which  yield  very  readily  to  simple 
antiseptic  treatment. 

Early  in  1890,  the  growth  of  our  school  at  Wathen  brought 
us  face  to  face  with  the  necessity  for  larger  and  more  per- 
manent buildings  for  our  school-children.  In  June  we  wrote 
to  Sir  Charles  Wathen,  then  Mayor  of  Bristol,  after  whom 
the  station  is  named,  and  stated  our  case.  We  needed 
a dormitory  and  school-room  for  1 20  boys.  The  dormitory 
which  then  existed  had  twenty-one  beds,  while  we  had  thirty- 
nine  boys,  and  twenty  more  were  promised.  We  su^ested 
an  iron  building,  which  was  estimated  at  £^00  including 
freight  and  transport,  and  asked  Sir  Charles  Wathen  to  give 
it,  if  the  scheme  commended  itself  to  him.  He  very  kindly 
promised  the  amount  asked  for,  assuring  us  of  his  deep 
interest  in  the  work.  An  iron  building  was  accordingly 
constructed,  and  sent  out  to  Wathen.  It  is  thirty-six  feet 
wide  by  eighty  feet  in  length,  being  divided  into  two  large 
rooms  thirty-six  by  forty  feet.  The  estimated  cost  was 
exceeded  by  the  addition  of  a verandah  all  round  the  build- 
ing to  keep  it  cool,  and  iron  bed-racks  for  the  dormitory. 
The  latter  were  provided  from  a fund  i-aised  by  Miss  Silvey, 
when  she  was  on  furlough,  before  her  marriage  to  Mr. 
Cameron.  The  balance  of  that  fund  provided  the  school- 
house  at  Bolobo.  The  transport  up  country  of  all  this  iron- 
work was  much  delayed  by  war  on  the  road,  so  that  the 
building  was  not  finished  and  opened  until  June  14,  1895. 
By  that  time  we  had  over  150  scholars  in  the  school,  and  had 
to  provide  further  dormitory  room.  The  congregations 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1881-99 


359 


gathering  to  our  services  on  Sunday,  combined  with  our 
scholars,  show  us  very  clearly  that  before  long  the  school- 
room will  be  too  small  to  contain  them,  and  we  shall  have 
to  build  a chapel. 

Philip  Davies,  B.A.,  came  out  to  the  Congo  with  Percy 
Comber  in  1885,  and  from  October,  1886,  was  stationed  at 
Wathen.  He  re-  


turned  from  his 
second  furlough 
in  June,  1895,  but 
was  by  no  means 
in  good  health. 

He  had  been 
suffering  from  in- 
fluenza in  Eng- 
land, and  seemed 
unable  to  shake 
it  off.  He  came 
back  to  Wathen, 
believing  that  the 
Congo  climate 
would  set  him  up 
again  ; but  in- 
stead he  suffered 
from  frequent 
slight  attacks  of 
fever.  On  No- 
vember 30  hae- 
moglobinuria  de- 
veloped ; in  his 
enfeebled  condi- 
tion he  was  unable  to  stand  against  it,  and  on  December  4, 
1895,  he  died.  It  was  a most  serious  loss  to  us,  for  Davies  had 
an  unusual  amount  of  shrewd  common  sense.  His  view  of 
a complicated  difficult  question  was  always  a safe  one.  His 
remarkable  and  finely  balanced  judgement  was  of  great 
value  in  dealing  with  the  questions  which  were  constantly 
emerging  in  the  development  of  Christian  work  in  the  towns. 


PllILir  DAVIES,  I!. A. 


360 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


in  the  growth  of  the  spiritual  life  of  native  converts,  and  in 
the  training  of  our  young  people.  The  problems  and 
difficulties  of  our  work  were  ever  before  him,  and  his  co- 
operation was  always  hearty  and  earnest.  His  judgement 
and  advice  were  much  appreciated  in  the  difficulties  of  trans- 
lation work.  He  was  blessed  with  a cool  temper,  and  while 
he  knew  how  to  be  firm  he  could  make  allowances  for  the 
failings  of  the  natives.  He  never  did  or  said  anything  to 
cause  pain  or  annoyance.  He  I'endered  a great  service  to 
the  mission  by  his  able  management  for  many  years  of  the 
transport  from  Underhill  to  Stanley  Pool,  in  the  account- 
keeping, store-keeping,  and  general  business  of  the  station. 
It  was  a drudgery  which  he  willingly  undertook  year  in 
year  out.  His  knowledge  of  the  language  was  good.  He 
was  thorough  in  all  that  he  undertook.  Philip  Davies  was 
loved  and  highly  esteemed  by  us  all,  and  by  the  natives. 
Davies’  place  is  filled  by  W.  B.  P'rame,  who  came  out  in 
July,  1896. 

In  January,  1894,  the  little  Church  at  Wathen  numbered 
eleven  members  only.  There  were  several  candidates  for 
baptism  who  were  still  on  probation,  and  among  them 
Bukusu,  of  Tungwa-Makuta.  I had  brought  him  to  the 
station  on  my  return  from  an  itineration  in  July,  1891.  He 
was  about  fifteen  years  of  age  when  he  first  came,  and 
I wondered  much  that  his  brothers  should  send  to  me  a grown 
lad,  who  should  be  useful  to  them  in  their  trade  and  work. 
The  boys  usually  sent  were  smaller  ; about  eleven  or  twelve 
is  a good  age,  some  were  only  nine  or  ten.  We  found 
a solution  to  the  mystery  of  his  coming  in  due  course. 
Bukusu  was  incorrigibly  lazy.  To  shine  in  this  quality  in 
a native  town,  a lad  must  have  a gift  that  way,  and  certainly 
Bukusu  had.  If  his  brothers  were  building  a house,  and 
invited  Bukusu  to  accompany  them  to  the  wood  to  fetch 
sticks,  he  soon  discovered  that  a bundle  of  sticks  is  heavy 
and  hard  to  the  head,  and  he  was  soon  missing.  If  they  were 
cutting  grass  for  the  thatch,  he  objected  to  scratch  his  skin 
in  such  operations,  and  disappeared.  If  they  killed  a pig 
to  sell  on  the  market,  Bukusu  preferred  to  gad  about  after 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


361 


his  friends  whom  he  met  there,  to  selling  pig  meat.  No 
matter  what  work  they  had  in  hand,  they  received  no 
assistance  from  Bukusu,  unless  they  were  discussing  a cassava 
pudding  with  a tasty  stew ; then  Bukusu  was  well  in  evidence, 
with  plenty  to  say  for  himself.  He  looked  to  his  brothers  for 
a new  cloth  occasionally,  or  powder  for  his  gun  in  the 
hunting  season,  but  in  other  matters  they  had  to  manage 
without  him. 

When  I was  at  Tungwa,  asking  for  boys  to  train,  the 
brothers  said,  ‘ Here  is  Mfumu  Bentele  asking  for  boys  ; let 
us  give  Bukusu  to  him,  and  see  if  he  can  put  any  sense 
into  him.’  Bukusu  gave  us  a great  deal  of  trouble.  If  he 
was  sent  to  work  in  the  plantations  with  a gang  of  boys,  very 
little  work  would  be  done.  He  not  only  stopped  working 
himself,  but  his  garrulous  tongue  kept  the  other  boys  idle 
also.  He  gave  so  much  trouble  in  this  way,  that  we  had 
finally  to  set  him  to  work  alone.  Our  patience  and  long- 
suffering  were  rewarded  in  his  case,  for  in  1893  Bukusu 
began  to  feel  the  truth  and  importance  of  our  teaching.  He 
realized  his  sinfulness  and  need  of  a Saviour,  and  sought 
and  found  Jesus. 

The  conversion  of  a heathen  African  is  a blessed  change, 
there  is  plenty  of  scope  for  its  becoming  evident ; it  was 
so  in  the  case  of  Bukusu.  He  put  some  conscience  into  his 
work,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  youth  who  had  been 
so  serious  a hindrance  to  the  work  of  the  others  was 
appointed  as  leader  and  overseer  of  the  work-boys,  and 
set  them  a good  example  by  his  diligence.  He  had  been 
revengeful  in  his  play,  and  very  rough  on  a smaller  boy  who 
ventured  to  take  the  ball  away  from  him  at  hockey,  but  the 
boys  noticed  an  entire  change  in  this  respect ; he  was  as 
fond  of  a good  game  as  ever,  but  he  was  fair  and  considerate. 
Some  interval  was  allowed  to  elapse,  but  when  he  applied 
to  join  the  native  Church  he  was  gladly  welcomed,  and 
was  baptized  in  April,  1894. 

A month  or  two  afterwards  Bukusu’s  brothers  sent  for  him. 
They  said  that  he  had  been  a long  while  with  us,  the  girl  to 
whom  he  had  been  betrothed  was  grown  up,  and  it  was  time 

VOL.  II.  A a 


362 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


that  he  returned  and  married  her.  We  wished  to  retain  him 
for  another  six  months  if  possible,  but  they  would  not  hear  of 
it  ; so  commending  Bukusu  to  Him  who  was  able  to  keep 
him  from  falling,  we  sent  him  home.  His  people  were  very 
glad  that  we  had  raised  no  serious  difficulties  as  to  his  return, 
neither  had  we  made  any  extortionate  demands  for  his  keep 
and  education  ; nothing,  in  fact.  They  felt  that  our  behaviour 
and  work  were  very  good. 

When  Bukusu  had  been  home  a month,  I went  on  my  long 
dry  season  tour  to  Tungwa,  and  married  him  there  in  an  open 
square  of  the'  town.  A good  number  of  natives  gathered  to 
see  the  first  Christian  marriage.  The  bridegroom  and  bride 
sat  on  one  mat,  while  I read  our  Kongo  marriage  service,  and 
they  made  the  responses  and  solemn  promises  before  all, 
and  signed  the  register  in  due  form.  The  general  opinion 
was  that  it  was  a ‘ good  fashion,’  and  a very  tight  knot. 

On  the  way  back  I visited  Makuta,  and  was  well  received. 
I slept  in  the  town,  and  asked  them  to  let  me  have  some  of 
their  boys  to  train  ; they  gave  me  four,  but  wished  that 
Ponde,  the  nephew  of  the  chief  of  Tungwa,  who  had  been 
nearly  four  years  with  us,  would  stay  with  them  and  teach 
them,  as  Bukusu  was  doing  ; this  I could  not  do  then.  When 
the  boys  had  been  a fortnight  at  Wathen,  some  of  the  scholars 
asked  them  about  the  shooting  of  Comber.  Two  of  them 
were  only  babies  at  the  time,  and  two  were  unborn,  but  these 
questions  filled  them  with  the  fear  that  revenge  would  be 
taken  on  them.  Perhaps  they  would  be  converted  into  tinned 
meat  when  properly  fattened  ; so  they  ran  away,  and  we  never 
got  them  back. 

A few  days  after  Bukusu’s  return  to  his  town  he  told  some 
of  the  other  young  people  that  if  they  liked  to  come  to  his 
house  after  the  evening  meal,  he  would  teach  them  some  of 
the  hymns  which  were  sung  at  Wathen.  They  liked  to  hear 
them  when  my  boys  came  with  me  to  the  town,  and  were 
glad  to  avail  themselves  of  Bukusu’s  offer.  He  taught  them 
‘ Jesus  loves  me,’  or  one  of  our  simplest  Kongo  hymns,  and 
after  a while  he  read  them  a passage  out  of  his  New  Testa- 
ment, and  explained  it  ; then  he  offered  prayer,  they  tried 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


363 


their  hymn  through  once  more,  and  went  home.  They  liked 
it  very  much,  and  soon  Bukusu’s  house  was  filled  evening 
after  evening.  On  moonlight  nights  they  sat  under  the  gable 
of  the  house,  and  many  other  people  gathered,  so  that  from 
fifty  to  eighty  would  be  present.  He  also  started  a school  in 
the  afternoon,  and  a few  came  regularly. 

A little  later  small-pox  came  into  the  district.  A woman 
died  of  it  at  Tungwa,  but  no  one  seems  to  have  recognized  it. 
The  usual  crowd  of  women  gathered  to  bewail  her,  and  to 
prepare  the  body  for  burial  next  day.  A fortnight  later,  on 
one  day,  fourteen  of  the  women  came  out  with  small-pox. 
The  town  broke  up,  and  the  people  went  to  live  in  the  woods 
and  jungle  all  round.  They  were  all  afraid  of  each  other. 
The  disease  spread  among  the  little  groups,  and  about  thirty 
people  died  in  the  township.  Bukusu’s  work  seemed  to  be  at 
an  end,  for  the  people  talked  of  building  in  the  hamlets  round. 
He  sent  for  vaccine,  and  vaccinated  a great  many  ; then  the 
disease  ceased  to  spread. 

After  a few  months  the  people  returned  to  their  town,  and 
Bukusu  recommenced  his  evening  services  and  the  school. 
In  June,  1895,  Kalu,  one  of  the  young  men  of  Tungwa,  came 
to  call  me.  He  said  that  I need  not  fear  to  visit  Tungwa, 
for  all  the  people  were  back  in  the  town,  and  the  small-pox 
had  ceased.  There  were  five  young  men  who  wished  to  be 
baptized,  and  he  was  one  of  them.  I could  not  start  for  three 
weeks,  so  we  had  opportunities  for  conversation  with  Kalu, 
and  were  delighted  to  see  how  well  Bukusu  had  taught  him. 
His  apprehension  of  Christian  truth,  his  faith  in  Christ,  and 
the  excellent  spirit  which  he  showed,  were  a joy  to  us  all. 
He  was  able  to  read  his  New  Testament  intelligently,  and  so 
could  three  of  the  other  candidates  ; the  fifth  was  well  on  in 
the  First  Reader. 

Kalu  told  us  of  the  persecution  and  trouble  which  had 
come  upon  them  on  account  of  their  conversion.  Selutoni 
had  been  chief  drummer  at  the  town  dances,  and  -now  his 
Christian  conscience  would  not  allow  him  to  assist  at  their 
unseemly  dances.  Some  of  the  people  had  threatened  to  kill 
him  if  he  did  not  give  up  his  new-fangled  nonsense.  Another 

A a 2 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


3f>4 

had  been  in  great  trouble  because  he  would  not  take  part  in 
fetish  ceremony  ; and  with  one  exception  they  had  all  suffered 
from  abuse  and  threats  of  personal  violence  on  account  of 
their  firm  stand  as  Christians.  The  people  said  that  it  was 
bad  enough  to  have  small-pox  kill  off  so  many,  but  it  would 
be  worse  if  these  young  men  became  witches,  and  were  in 
league  with  us.  They  stood  fast  to  their  faith  and  defied 
their  opponents. 

I went  back  with  Kalu  in  July,  taking  w ith  me  seven  of  the 
members  of  the  Church,  that  they  might  represent  it,  and  give 
me  also  their  advice  and  help.  We  visited  Lo  at  Kinsuka,  and 
then  w^ent  on  to  Tungw'a.  Some  of  the  people  came  fifteen 
miles  on  the  way  to  meet  me. 

At  Tungwa  I further  examined  the  candidates  for  baptism, 
as  did  the  Church  members  who  were  with  me.  They  were 
all  very  satisfactory.  When  a convert  takes  a definite  and 
determined  stand,  and  has  to  endure  all  sorts  of  trouble, 
and  incur  great  danger,  the  question  of  ulterior  motives  dis- 
appears ; and  when  the  character,  daily  life,  and  all  accord 
with  the  profession,  our  task  is  much  simplified.  So  in  these 
cases  the  strongest  evidence  was  the  patient  bearing  of  perse- 
cution for  Christ’s  sake,  while  the  gentleness  of  disposition, 
earnestness,  and  general  tone,  left  us  no  room  for  doubt  or 
delay.  The  measure  of  persecution  which  exists  is  so  far 
a help.  Accordingly,  it  was  decided  to  baptize  them  on  the 
Sunday,  and  we  endeavoured  to  make  it  w^ell  knowm. 

I found  250  people  gathered  before  the  service  commenced  ; 
but  after  the  first  hymn,  so  many  more  had  gathered  that 
there  were  close  on  400  people  around  me.  I told  the  people 
how  we  had  come  to  preach  to  them,  and  once  more  rehearsed 
what  our  great  message  was ; then  I told  them  that  some  of 
their  townsfolk  had  accepted  this  Gospel,  they  had  realized 
their  sinfulness,  and  had  sought  and  obtained  the  forgiveness 
of  their  sins  ; now  they  wished  to  live  a new  life,  to  do  that 
which  was  right,  and  to  behave  as  followers  of  Jesus  should, 
kindly  and  well  to  all.  After  seeking  to  impress  upon  them 
their  own  personal  need  of  the  Saviour,  and  of  His  readiness 
to  save  them,  and  explaining  the  meaning  of  the  ordinance 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


365 


about  to  be  administered,  we  sang  another  hymn,  and  then 
each  of  the  candidates  spoke.  They  reminded  those  present 
of  their  own  wicked  lives,  which  were  well  known  to  all  ; how 
they  had  at  first  been  indifferent  to  the  Gospel  message,  and 
treated  it  as  a ‘ white  man’s  palaver  ’ ; but  now  through 
Bukusu’s  teaching  they  had  come  to  see  their  lost  condition, 
and  had  sought  and  found  the  Saviour.  They  spoke  of  the 
folly  of  their  fetish  customs,  and  the  wickedness  connected 
with  it  all,  urging  all  present  to  abandon  these  ways  of  the 
devil,  and  to  serve  and  love  Jesus.  Two  of  them  specially 
referred  to  the  Ndembo  ‘ Mystery,’  in  which  the  initiates  arc 
suppo.sed  to  die,  and  after  many  months  to  come  to  life  again, 
just  before  they  return  to  their  native  town.  They  said,  ‘ You 
know  very  many  of  you  here  that  it  is  all  false ; we  did  not 
die  ; it  is  only  a wicked  custom,  and  very  wicked  too.’  No 
one  denied  the  truth  of  this.  They  spoke  very  earnestly  to 
all,  and  specially  urged  the  chief  to  abandon  his  charms,  and 
to  come  out  on  the  Lord’s  side.  Nlemvo  next  spoke  ; it  was 
a capital  address,  well  to  the  point.  Then  Ponde  followed. 
He  was  a young  man  of  Tungwa,  who  had  been  in  our  school 
four  years,  and  had  been  baptized  at  Wathen  nine  months 
previously. 

Some  hymns  and  prayers  had  been  interspersed,  many 
Tungwa  people  joining  in  the  singing,  and  then  1 invited 
them  all  to  come  to  the  water.  We  had  chosen  a spot  where 
some  flat  rocks  almost  block  the  course  of  the  Lulewa,  with 
a convenient  pool  above.  Fifty  yards  above  were  other  rocks 
on  the  upper  edge  of  the  pool.  On  these  rocks,  on  the  banks, 
and  in  the  trees  the  people  crowded  to  witness.  After  a hymn, 
I went  down  into  the  water  and  baptized  the  five. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  we  held  a Communion  Service,  and 
fourteen  of  us  gathered  round  the  Lord's  Table  ; eight  of  them 
belonged  to  Tungwa. 

Several  of  the  Tungwa  people  brought  their  fetishes  to  me, 
and  told  me  that  they  were  no  use  any  more.  My  dinner 
on  the  Sunday  of  the  baptism  was  cooked  with  the  wood 
of  a fetish  image  four  feet  high,  which  was  publicly  hacked 
to  pieces,  without  a word  of  dissent,  by  one  of  our  new  Church 


366 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


members,  to  whom  it  had  belonged.  Its  name  was  Kinene, 
the  Great  One ; it  used  to  be  considered  a potent  charm 
against  sickness,  and  had  taken  many  fees.  In  cooking  my 
dinner  that  day,  Kinene  had  at  last  been  of  some  use.  I told 
the  chief  that  I hoped  some  day  to  take  home  with  me 
Kavolo-ndondo,  that  great  fetish  which  had  been  until  now 
his  mainstay.  It  was  a charm  from  Zombo,  a\vay  to  the 
south-\vest  of  Tungwa.  It  w'as  a bundle  which  looked  like 
a dead  baby  in  its  shroud.  It  used  to  be  kept  in  a little 
house  four  feet  by  three,  beside  the  chiefs  house,  with  a lot 
of  crooked  roots  and  other  fetish  apparatus.  But  the  little 
house  was  then  used  as  a fowl-house,  the  apparatus  had 
disappeared,  and  Kavolo-ndondo  w as  stuck  up  on  two  pieces 
of  bamboo  in  the  front  of  an  old  house.  I expressed  the 
hope  that  I should  soon  be  able  to  carry  it  away.  I might  have 
taken  it  violently,  and  ‘ bluffed  ’ him  into  acquiescence  even 
then  ; but  people’s  hearts  are  not  to  be  changed  that  way. 

Bukusu  had  fifty-two  scholars  in  his  school,  attending  with 
more  or  less  regularity.  I examined  forty  of  them,  the  rest 
were  away  carrying  loads  up  country  for  the  State.  All  this 
had  been  done  without  any  payment  being  made  to  Bukusu 
in  any  form.  Freely  he  had  received,  freely  he  gave  the 
instruction.  He  had  assisted  Dr.  Webb  in  the  surgery  and 
dispensary  at  Wathen,  and  the  doctor  had  taught  him  how 
to  treat  the  common  ailments  of  the  country.  Bukusu  had 
been  practising  medicine,  and  a great  many  had  benefited, 
beside  those  who  had  been  to  him  for  vaccination. 

Ponde,  one  of  our  first  scholars  from  Tungwa,  was  a member 
of  the  Church.  He  had  developed  gifts  and  graces,  and  was 
an  earnest  and  active  Christian  young  man.  An  important 
chief  at  Bangu,  four  hours  to  the  east  of  Tungw^a,  expressed 
a wish  that  he  should  come  and  live  in  his  town,  and  teach 
there  as  Bukusu  was  doing  at  Tungwa.  The  Church  had 
undertaken  his  support ; but  when  we  went  to  Bangu,  we 
found  that  he  had  changed  his  mind,  and  would  not  receive 
him.  Ponde  was  returning  to  Wathen  very  dejected  and 
disappointed.  On  our  homeward  way  we  visited  Makuta, 
and  there  we  stayed  the  night.  The  Congo  State  had  a post 


THE  CATARACT  REGION;  1887-99 


367 


there  for  the  recruitment  of  carriers.  The  people  were  very 
vexed  at  the  foolishness  of  the  boys  whom  they  had  sent  with 
me  the  previous  year,  in  running  away  ; they  promised  to 
send  me  two  more  boys,  but  not  for  a week  or  two,  for  there 
was  to  be  a great  funeral  in  the  town  very  shortly,  and  all 
wished  to  be  present.  Then  they  said  that  they  had  heard 
that  the  people  of  the  town  to  which  Ponde  was  designated 
had  declined  to  receive  him  ; why  should  he  not  stop  there  ? 
They  had  begged  for  this  last  year.  Why  should  he  not  stop 
now?  I was  not  surprised  at  this  request.  Ponde  felt  once 
more  consoled  ; he  was  ready  to  undertake  it.  I asked  them 
whether,  if  he  came,  Ponde  would  have  to  sleep  in  the 
jungle  ; they  assured  me  that  if  he  came,  a house  would  be  no 
difficulty,  they  would  see  to  that. 

Next  day  we  had  only  a march  of  two  hours,  for  I wanted 
to  stop  at  Mongo,  a town  which  had  always  been  very  friendly  ; 
I had  long  heard  that  they  wanted  to  send  us  some  boys. 
We  found  our  friends  there  still  in  the  same  mind.  I sat 
down  beside  one  of  the  houses,  and  soon  noticed  an  unpleasant 
odour ; then  I saw  that  just  beside  the  house  was  a newly- 
made  grave,  with  the  thorny  bases  of  some  palm  fronds 
arranged  above  it  to  keep  jackals  and  civets  from  digging. 
They  pointed  out  that  the  old  chief  of  the  town  had  died 
a year  ago.  He  had  been  carefully  dried  beside  a slow  fire, 
indeed,  over  it  for  part  of  the  time ; as  he  was  properly  dry, 
and  it  was  still  the  dry  season,  with  no  chance  of  rain,  they 
had  placed  him  in  a shallow  grave,  and  had  lightly  covered 
him  over  with  earth,  until  the  proper  funeral,  which  was  to 
take  place  in  about  a fortnight.  To  suggest  to  a man  that  he 
had  buried  his  uncle  ‘ wet,’  would  be  as  irritating  a remark  as 
the  native  mind  could  conceive.  I shifted  my  seat,  and  pre- 
ferred another  house.  My  friend  said  that,  after  the  funeral, 
he  was  coming  to  the  station  to  bring  the  boys  himself ; he 
had  been  so  busy  trading,  to  get  the  cloth  necessary  for  the 
shroud  and  funeral  entertainments,  that  he  had  thought  of 
nothing  else  during  all  the  last  year. 

Next  morning  our  caravan  was  divided  up,  and  most  of  the 
boys  went  straight  to  Wathen,  while  I went  with  a smaller 


368 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


party  to  Kinsaku.  It  was  a large  cluster  of  villages  at  which 
I had  spent  the  night,  and  in  passing  through  one  of  them  the 
people  wished  me  to  dismount  and  wait  a bit,  for  they  had 
a boy  ready  now  to  go  on  with  me.  He  was  ratting  in  the 
newly-burnt  jungle,  so  they  sent  off  to  call  for  him  at  once. 
He  came  all  in  due  course,  fetched  a new  white  cotton  vest 
and  his  best  cloth  out  of  his  house,  received  a present  of 
twenty-five  brass  rods  from  his  elder  brother,  bade  ‘Good-bye’ 
to  his  mother  and  aunt,  and  started  off  with  us,  glad  to  come 
to  the  station  to  be  taught. 

The  journey  through  the  new  country  was  very  interesting. 

I was  well  received  ; there  were  plenty  of  people ; promises 
were  made  of  boys  for  the  school  and  of  visits  at  our  station  ; 
I had  interesting  talks  in  some  places.  At  Kinsaku  the 
people  were  very  glad  to  see  me  ; they  gave  me  one  boy,  and 
begged  for  a teacher,  who  was  established  there  later  on,  and 
so  a new  wide  district  came  under  our  influence. 

The  anniversary  of  the  Wathen  Church  is  celebrated  on 
January  i.  Until  1896  the  celebration  had  been  a very  quiet 
affair,  but  the  little  Church  had  been  growing,  and  the  member- 
ship had  reached  forty-nine.  We  felt  that  it  was  very  desirable 
that,  as  far  as  possible,  the  members  of  the  widely  scattered 
Church  should  meet  together  once  a year  ; accordingly,  we 
expressed  a wish  that  they  should  gather  together  to  the 
station  to  celebrate  the  seventh  anniversary.  They  came  in 
goodly  numbers,  bringing  with  them  some  of  their  friends. 
Thirty-five  came  out  of  the  Tungwa  and  Makuta  districts,  and 
others  from  nearer  centres.  The  women  folk  of  the  country 
wear  heavy  brass  anklets,  but  the  Christian  women  put  off 
these  much-prized  adornments,  because  they  could  not  walk 
if  they  continued  to  wear  them,  and  so  they  travelled  the 
sixty  long  miles  to  the  station,  two  with  babies  on  their  backs. 
The  women  who  thus  came  were  not  members  of  the  Church, 
but  they  were  hoping  shortly  to  join  it,  and  wished  much  to 
see  the  place  about  which  they  had  heard  so  much  from  the 
men.  It  was  a happy  time  to  all  of  us,  and  we  felt  that  great 
changes  were  indeed  coming  over  the  people,  when  women, 
who  never  travel  far,  would  come  such  a long  journey  to  take 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


369 


part  in  the  anniversary  of  the  Church.  They  came  in  time  to 
spend  Christmas  with  us,  and  stayed  to  a series  of  meetings 
held  during  the  week — conferences  in  which  a series  of  subjects 
were  freely  discussed  by  those  present.  The  subjects  were 
interesting: — the  duty  and  privilege  of  Christian  giving;  the 
attitude  of  the  Christians  towards  their  neighbours,  and  in 
reference  to  the  customs  of  the  country  ; war  ; slavery ; and 
drink. 

Then  there  was  an  enthusiastic  missionary  meeting,  at 
which  Bukusu  and  the  evangelists  spoke  of  the  work  at  the 
outposts,  and  told  of  the  spirit  of  inquiry  which  was  moving 
among  those  who  frequented  their  services.  One  evening 
there  was  a magic-lantern  display,  another  evening  was 
devoted  to  a survey,  of  missionary  work  throughout  the 
world,  and  a more  special  address  on  India.  The  boys  of 
the  school,  the  Christian  natives,  and  all  gathered  together 
were  deeply  interested  in  the  proceedings,  and  many  of  the 
boys  hoped  that  when  their  education  was  complete,  they 
too  might  be  able  to  work  among  their  own  people,  as 
Bukusu  and  others  were  working  elsewhere.  The  spirit  and 
influence  of  the  meetings  were  excellent,  strengthening  and 
helpful  to  those  who  were  seeking  to  live  the  Christian  life 
in  the  darkness  of  their  heathen  towns,  and  to  carry  on 
Christian  work  in  the  face  of  much  prejudice  and  opposition. 
All  felt  that  such  gatherings  should  be  held  annually,  and 
that  all  who  could  do  so  should  gather  to  them.  They  have 
done  so  since  then. 

Three  weeks  after  the  people  had  returned  to  their  towns, 
I started  to  visit  the  southern  district  again.  On  the  way 
I met  messengers  who  were  hurrying  to  call  me,  because 
Ponde,  the  evangelist  at  Makuta,  had  lost  his  reason.  The 
poor  fellow  was  probably  suffering  from  a solar  fever  ; a type 
of  fever  which  had  only  recently  appeared  on  the  Congo. 
At  times  he  was  nearly  sane,  at  others  he  was  very  violent, 
and  had  to  be  secured  to  a block  of  wood.  A piece  of 
plum-tree  wood,  about  sixteen  inches  long  and  seven  inches 
in  diameter,  was  taken,  and  a square  hole  cut  into  it  4 in. 
by  6 in.  Ponde’s  foot  was  inserted,  and  a pin  of  wood 


370 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


was  driven  through  the  side  of  the  stock,  which  prevented 
the  foot  from  being  withdrawn.  It  is  a humane  fetter,  and 
I had  no  better  suggestion  to  make.  During  one  of  the 
first  mornings  he  was  quite  sane  for  an  hour  or  two,  and 
I could  talk  to  him  about  four  of  the  Makuta  people  whom 
he  had  proposed  for  baptism.  Later  in  the  day  the  fever 
returned,  and  his  reason  went  again.  After  about  twenty- 
five  days  he  was  quite  well  again. 

Ponde’s  work  at  Makuta  was  very  remarkable.  He  had 
been  our  cook  at  Wathen,  and  after  his  conversion  he  felt 
the  hindi'ance  that  his  duties  were  to  Christian  work.  Other 
of  the  Church  members  could  go  out  on  Saturday  afternoon, 
and  stay  out  in  the  towns  for  evangelistic  work,  until  nine 
or  ten  o’clock  on  Monday  morning.  He  begged  us  to  let 
him  train  another  boy,  so  that  he  might  take  his  place  in 
the  kitchen  from  Saturday  to  Monday  ; this  was  done,  so 
that  he  was  freed.  He  gladly  undertook  the  work  of  a regular 
evangelist  at  Makuta  when  an  opportunity  offered,  a little 
later  on.  He  had  not  been  six  weeks  at  the  place  before 
Bula-kati  was  converted.  Bula-kati  was  a leading  spirit 
among  the  young  men,  a keen  and  energetic  trader,  general 
of  the  local  ‘ army,’  and  chief  rowdy  of  the  district.  His 
uncle,  Nzo-kamengwa,  was  the  second  chief  of  the  town,  an 
old  man  much  respected.  Bula-kati  was  very  kind  to  Ponde 
from  the  first,  and  lent  a ready  ear  to  his  teaching;  indeed, 
he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  time  with  Ponde.  When 
the  news  reached  us  at  Wathen  we  were  much  surprised,  and 
wished  Bula-kati  to  visit  us ; when  he  came,  we  could  but 
recognize  the  power  of  God,  which  had  made  so  great 
a change  in  his  heart.  We  had  many  conversations  with 
him,  and  were  thoroughly  satisfied.  He  was  warmly  recom- 
mended for  baptism  when  I visited  Makuta  at  the  end  of 
January,  1896.  But  not  only  Bula-kati,  his  wife  also  gave 
good  evidence  of  conversion  ; there  was  also  Nkuzu,  a relative 
of  the  chief,  as  well  as  a nephew  of  Bula-kati,  a poor  blind 
fellow  named  Nswela,  who  had  lost  his  sight  through  scarlet 
fever  some  eight  years  before.  All  these  were  the  result  of 
Ponde’s  first  six  months’  work  in  Makuta.  After  careful 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


371 


inquiry,  there  was  no  reason  to  hesitate  to  baptize  them, 
although  their  period  of  probation  had  been  shorter  than 
was  our  custom.  There  had  been  so  much  persecution, 
abuse,  and  trouble,  and  such  boldness  and  grace  evident, 
that  there  was  no  room  to  question  ; they  were  well 
instructed  too. 

At  Tungwa  also  there  had  been  great  progress  and 
blessing.  Eleven  were  proposed  for  baptism  ; two  of  them 
were  deferred  for  further  instruction,  but  the  other  nine  were 
quite  satisfactory ; five  of  them  were  women,  and  four  were  men. 

One  of  the  women  was  old  Madia  (Maria)  Kiavevwa.  I had 
known  her  for  some  time  ; for  on  a previous  visit  Ponde  had 
asked  me  to  go  and  see  his  father  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
town.  Congo  people  call  their  paternal  relatives  fathers, 
and  the  maternal  I'elatives  mothers,  but  it  did  not  occur  to 
me  that  when  Ponde  took  me  to  see  his  father  he  was  going 
to  introduce  me  to  this  old  lady.  We  sat  down  in  the  gable 
end  of  her  house,  and  Madia  gave  me  an  empty  gin  case  to 
sit  upon  ; after  a little  talk  I innocently  asked  Ponde  where 
his  father  was.  He  replied,  ‘ She  is  my  father.’  When  I re- 
covered myself  I remembered  the  native  parlance,  and  under- 
stood that  she  was  of  his  father’s  family.  She  was  a sister 
of  the  chief  who  had  been  friendly  to  Thomas  Comber  and 
Hartland  in  the  early  days,  and  the  only  one  remaining 
of  the  family.  She  was  therefore  quite  a leader  of  society, 
and  much  respected.  The  old  lady  was  ignorant,  super- 
stitious, and  strong-minded  withall.  She  was  a bit  of  a 
doctor  too,  for  she  possessed  some  of  the  ancestral  fetishes, 
and  made  some  good  fees  thereby.  Such  old  ladies,  steeped 
in  superstition,  are  veiy  dense,  and  I well  remember  how 
1 once  went  away,  after  a talk  with  her,  thinking  that  if  the 
grace  of  God  could  do  anything  with  a dark  heathen  heart 
like  hers,  it  could  do  anything.  A talk  with  her  appeared 
to  be  about  as  useful  as  talking  to  one  of  the  three  big 
stones  of  her  hearth.  Hopelessly  stupid  and  dark  she  was. 

The  story  has  already  been  told  how  the  Makuta  people 
attacked  Comber  and  Hartland  in  1880,  shooting  Comber 
in  the  back,  and  bruising  both  of  them  with  sticks  and  stones. 


372 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


After  a long  chase  over  the  plain  of  Pikita,  the  pursuers, 
being  unable  to  catch  them,  turned  back,  and  Comber  and 
Hartland,  terribly  exhausted  and  thirsty,  longed  for  water. 
Twenty  minutes  later  they  came  to  the  Tungwa  farms,  and 
saw  a woman  hoeing  ; they  begged  her  for  water.  She  knew 
nothing  of  what  had  happened,  but  went  to  her  basket  under 
a bush  and  brought  them  a calabash  of  water,  and  a root 
or  two  of  cassava  to  eat  on  the  way.  They  drank  deeply 
of  the  water,  and  then  offered  some  payment.  She  refused 

to  take  payment  for  a drink  of 
water,  but  at  last  they  forced 
her  to  accept  a string  or  two 
of  beads  for  the  cassava,  and 
hurried  on  refreshed.  That 
‘ cup  of  cold  water  ’ given  to 
Christ’s  servants  in  their  need, 
did  not  lose  its  reward.  The 
woman  was  Madia  Kiavevwa! 
Fifteen  years  later,  when 
Bukusu  and  Ponde  were  work- 
ing there,  she  was  the  first 
woman  in  the  district  to  ac- 
cept Christ’s  salvation,  and 
has  lived  abright,useful,  Chris- 
tian life  ever  since.  The  change 
in  her  is  marvellous,  and  very 
delightful  to  see.  The  old 
woman,  who,  by  her  rank  and 
position,  used  to  lead  the 
women  of  the  town  in  fetish  ceremonies  and  all  superstition, 
hopelessly  stupid  and  dark  in  her  mind,  became  now  a bright, 
intelligent,  Christian  woman.  The  mental  change  in  these 
Congo  converts  is  very  wonderful ; it  is,  indeed,  an  opening 
of  the  eyes,  ‘ that  they  may  turn  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  that  are 
sanctified  by  faith  in  Christ’  (Acts  xxvi.  i8).  She  had 
attended  the  meetings  of  Bukusu,  and  at  one  of  them  stood 


LO  (p.age  347) 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


373 


up,  and  told  those  assembled  that  all  knew  her,  and  her 
manner  of  life ; what  evil  thing  had  she  not  done  ? She 
enumerated  a dark  catalogue  of  sins,  and  said  that  she  was 
guilty  of  all  these  ; her  heart  was  dark  and  wicked  ; she  had 
many  sins  to  be  forgiven  ; she  needed  the  cleansing  of  the 
blood  of  Jesus,  and  a renewal  of  heart:  and  then,  lifting  up 
her  eyes  to  heaven,  she  cried  out,  ‘Oh!  Lord  Jesus,  have 
mercy  on  a poor  woman,  a sinner ! ’ The  other  women  were 
deeply  moved  ; Madia  had  great  influence  with  them,  and 
when,  a little  later,  she  had  found  the  salvation  which  she 
sought,  her  conversion  gave  things  a new  start. 

Ponde’s  services  at  Makuta  were  attended  by  the  men  ; but 
the  women  folk  considered  that  ‘ God’s  palaver  ’ was  not  for 
them.  Madia  heard  of  this,  and  walked  over.  She  called 
the  women  together,  and  told  them  that  the  Gospel  con- 
cerned them  as  much  as  the  men.  She  had  accepted  it, 
and  was  looking  to  Jesus  for  salvation ; she  urged  them  to  do 
the  same.  From  that  time  some  of  the  women  began  to  attend 
the  services. 

In  July,  1896,  I visited  the  district  again,  and  in  the  two 
towns  there  were  six  men  and  six  women  to  baptize.  At 
Makuta  we  were  heartily  greeted.  There  were  four  candi- 
dates for  baptism  ; two  lads  of  seventeen  and  fourteen  ; the 
latter,  Bula,  a very  sharp,  bright  boy  from  a town  close  by. 
Since  he  had  become  a Christian,  his  father  wanted  to  kill 
him,  so  he  dared  not  visit  his  town.  His  father  had  been 
stirring  up  the  district  against  the  Gospel,  and  had  done 
a great  deal  of  mischief.  Two  were  sisters  of  fifteen  and 
sixteen,  both  betrothed  to  men  having  several  wives. 

This  custom  of  betrothal  is  our  greatest  difficulty  now ; 
nearly  every  girl  is  betrothed  from  childhood,  often  from 
babyhood,  and  payments  are  made  on  their  account  by  their 
prospective  husbands.  Of  course  the  poor  girl  has  no  choice 
in  all  this  ; by  the  time  that  she  is  grown  up,  it  frequently 
happens  that  her  husband  is  old,  and  has  several  other  wives. 
If  such  a girl  becomes  converted,  this  betrothal  gives  her 
a great  deal  of  anxiety  and  trouble,  when  she  tries  to  free 
herself.  If  the  prospective  husband  hears  of  it,  he  naturally 


374 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


demands  the  return  of  his  money,  with,  however,  an  impossible 
interest  thereto  ; if  he  has  paid  2,oco  or  3,coo  brass  rods,  he 
will  demand  50,000.  What  is  the  poor  girl  to  do  ? How  can 
she,  as  a Christian,  marry  a man  having  already  several 
wives?  She  cannot  pay  50,000  rods.  Her  friends  often  are 
angry  at  her  conversion,  and  only  add  to  the  difficulty. 

One  of  the  cases  at  Makuta  was  simple.  The  would-be 
husband,  her.  cousin,  was  dying  of ‘sleep  sickness’ ; the  disease 
had  taken  such  hold  of  him,  that  often  they  had  a difficulty 
to  rouse  him  to  take  food.  Bula-kati  was  her  cousin,  and  he  was 
an  earnest  Christian  ; her  father,  Nzo-kamengwa  (let  us  call 
him  Nzo),  had  made  a public  declaration  at  one  or  more 
of  the  services  that  he  wished  to  be  a Christian.  Nzo  would 
not  throw  any  difficulties  in  the  girl’s  way.  The  dying 
husband  wanted  some  one  else  to  betroth  the  girl,  and  to 
repay  him  what  he  had  paid  for  her  to  his  uncle  Nzo,  that 
so  he  might  add  the  proceeds  to  his  own  funeral  shroud  and 
festivities.  His  brothers  and  Nzo  would  not  hear  of  it ; 
they  said  that  the  poor  girl  should  be  free  to  marry  in  Chris- 
tian fashion,  and  the  dying  man  was  not  allowed  to  have 
his  way. 

The  elder  sister  was  demanded  by  her  ‘husband,’  and  her 
people  were  afraid  to  break  off  the  match.  The  Christian 
cousin,  Bula-kati,  had  acted  nobly  throughout ; he  said  that 
he  would  find  the  money  somehow.  While  he  was  away 
ten  days  previously,  the  husband  came  and  tied  her  up. 
Bula-kati’s  wife,  also  a Church  member,  cut  her  loose,  and 
she  ran  away,  and  hid  at  Tungwa.  Then  he  threatened  to 
tie  up  the  evangelist  Ponde,  and  to  sell  him,  but  had  not 
done  so.  They  were  anxiously  waiting  my  interposition, 
now  that  Bula-kati  had  returned  home. 

Next  morning  I went  to  the  town  of  the  would-be  husband 
Mbangi.  He  sent  for  his  chief  to  help  him  ; while  waiting 
I did  some  surgical  work ; when  the  chief  came,  he  sat  under 
the  gable  of  Mbangi’s  house.  He  ought  to  have  come  to  me 
instead  ; but  I did  not  stickle  for  forms,  so  went  over  to 
them.  They  were  sullen  and  very  disagreeable  ; they  would 
not  discuss  the  matter  of  the  breaking  off  of  the  match,  but 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1SS7-99 


375 


fixed  two  days  later  at  Makuta.  We  agreed  to  this.  The 
girl’s  cousin,  Bula-kati,  was  determined  to  get  her  free,  cost 
what  it  might ; her  father  wished  it,  but  did  not  care  to 
refund  any  of  the  cloth  which  he  had  received.  Another 
cousin  was  also  wishing  that  she  should  be  free,  but  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  business.  The  chief  of  the  town 
saw  a chance  of  making  a fee.  The  would-be  husband 
Mbangi  and  his  party  had  arrived. 

When  we  had  arranged  ourselves,  some  extravagant 
demands  were  made  ; four  miles  of  brass  wire  of  the  thickness 
of  a straw,  and  this  to  open  the  question  only ; the  sum  to 
be  paid  in  settlement  of  the  affair  would  be  an  after  con- 
sideration. Angry  words  passed  ; then  an  amicable  settlement 
was  recommended,  and  so  things  went ; sometimes  it  seemed 
hopeless ; then  again  hope  returned.  What  could  the  poor 
girl  have  done  alone  ? . After  a while  it  was  agreed  that  the 
fee  for  the  opening  of  the  question  should  be  but  nominal, 
only  a leaf  of  tobacco.  Then  they  reverted  to  the  four  miles 
of  wire,  and  we  seemed  to  have  made  no  progress. 

Old  Nzo,  the  girl’s  father,  once  more  urged  that  it  was 
not  a matter  over  which  to  quarrel,  nor  to  demand  excessive 
damages.  If  the  girl  had  listened  to  some  other  suitor,  it 
would  be  a different  matter ; but  the  girl  had  become  a 
Christian,  and  now  she  could  not  marry  a man  who  had 
other  wives ; to  attempt  to  force  her  to  act  contrary  to  God’s 
will  would  be  an  act  of  direct  hostility  to  God.  New  and 
good  fashions  were  being  taught,  and  when  any  one  became 
a Christian  they  should  be  allowed  to  follow  the  teaching 
of  their  faith.  He  himself  was  anxious  to  learn  and  accept 
the  Gospel.  He  had  been  a long  time  in  the  devil’s  service, 
and  had  found  no  profit  in  it;  he  was  wishing  to  follow  Jesus. 
He  did  not  want  to  become  a ‘chunk  of  the  devil’s  firewood 
in  heir  (a  realistic  expression  which  they  often  use).  He 
appealed  to  the  man  to  be  reasonable,  and  urged  that  the 
matter  should  be  settled  amicably,  that  the  long-standing 
friendship  between  Makuta  and  Nkumba  be  not  impaired. 

Then  the  man  began  to  detail  the  payments  he  had  made 
whenever  Nzo’s  family  had  been  in  difficulties — such  being 


376 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


the  time  to  squeeze  a prospective  son-in-law — and  proved 
to  cloth,  and  other  things,  to  the  value  of  half-a-mile  of  wire. 
We  went  aside,  and  the  chief,  who  came  with  us  to  consult, 
said  that  it  was  of  no  use  to  talk  for  ever.  Bula-kati  must 
pay  on  the  girl’s  account  10,000  rods,  and  1,000  more  to  him 
(the  chief),  11,000  in  all — i.e.  a mile  of  wire.  We  urged 
that  1,200  yards  was  enough  ; but  he  would  not  listen  to  it. 
After  a lot  of  talk,  the  mile  was  agreed  to,  and  Bula-kati 
fetched  a heavy  instalment  in  cloth.  Then  more  ‘ palaver  ’ 
about  the  proportionate  value  of  cloth  and  rods.  Twice  there 
were  grabbings  and  scufflings,  and  at  last  the  rate  was  deter- 
mined. The  chief  took  his  fee,  and  divided  it  partly  among 
his  people.  A day  was  fixed  for  the  final  payment,  and  all 
was  settled.  Kundava  had  been  away  hiding  in  the  woods, 
but  as  it  was  settled  the  poor  girl  had  nothing  further  to 
fear. 

Old  Nzo  early  stood  up  in  the  services,  and  professed  an 
interest,  and  a desire  to  accept  the  Saviour.  He  did  so 
several  times,  but  we  feared  that  his  greed  and  superstition 
were  sometimes  in  evidence  even  then.  Later  on  the  Christian 
people  were  more  hopeful  of  him.  In  conversation  and  life 
he  seemed  to  be  sincere,  and  to  have  a definite  faith  in  Christ. 
We  felt  that  there  could  be  no  harm  in  an  extended  probation. 
Towards  the  end  of  1896  he  fell  sick,  and  we  have  good  reason 
to  believe  that  he  died  trusting  in  Jesus.  He  would  in  all 
probability  have  been  baptized,  had  he  lived  until  my  next 
visit.  He  had  been  opposed  to  the  shooting  of  Thomas 
Comber,  and  it  is  very  interesting  to  note  how  the  man  who 
would  not  lend  himself  to  the  opposition  against  the  Gospel 
was  spared  for  sixteen  years,  and  lived  to  embrace  the  Gospel 
himself  and  experience  the  saving  grace  of  Christ.  He  must 
have  been  seventy  years  of  age  when  he  died  ; ve7y  few  reach 
those  years  at  the  present  time  in  Congo  land.  Many  of  his 
children,  nephews,  and  adherents  have  become  members  of 
the  Christian  Church,  and  are  carrying  on  good  work  in  their 
neighbourhood. 

In  August,  1897,  Nkonzi,  a nephew  of  Bwaka-matu  (who 
ordered  the  shooting  of  Comber),  was  baptized  ; a month  or 


THE  CATARACT  REGION  : 1887-99 


377 


two  later  he  was  very  anxious  to  make  some  amends  for  the 
great  sin  of  his  family.  He  wanted  to  send  a present  to  the 
father  of  Comber,  but  as  he  was  so  far  away,  he  could  only 
send  some  little  thing.  He  WTOte  him  a letter  deploring  the 
wrong  done  to  his  son,  who  was  the  bearer  of  such  good  news 
from  God.  He  urged  that  his  uncle  Bwaka  had  done  it  all  in 
ignorance,  and  he  begged  him  to  forgive  it,  and  to  be  his 
friend.  He  had  learned  to  know  and  trust  in  Jesus,  and  was 
indeed  thankful  that  the  Gospel  had  been  brought  to  his 
people.  He  had  little  to  offer  him  that  could  be  sent  so  far, 
but  he  begged  to  send  three  fine  leopard’s  claws,  one  for 
Mr.  Comber,  sen.,  and  one  each  for  his  two  sons  by  his  second 
marriage.  It  w'as  a great  joy  to  Mr.  Comber  to  hear  that  one 
of  Bwaka’s  nephews  had  been  brought  to  Christ,  and  the 
leopard’s  claws  are  highly  prized.  Mr.  Comber  has  wi'itten 
Nkonzi  a letter  full  of  joy  and  earnest  desires  for  a blessing 
upon  him  and  upon  his  people. 

Nswela,  the  blind  young  man,  came  to  live  with  us  for 
a year  at  Wathen.  He  sat  in  the  school  and  listened  until 
he  knew  the  order  of  the  words  in  the  primer,  and  could  give 
a reading  lesson  himself.  He  got  the  boys  to  read  to  him  the 
New  Testament  and  the  other  books,  and  much  enjoyed 
the  services  on  the  station.  He  was  allowed  to  play  the 
harmonium,  and  picked  out  some  of  the  tunes ; he  would 
soon  have  learned  to  play,  had  he  continued  a little  longer 
where  there  was  an  instrument.  It  is  our  custom  to  invite 
one  of  the  members  of  the  Church  to  conduct  the  daily 
morning  service  on  Mondays,  and  when  Nswela  had  been 
a while  with  us  he  was  asked  to  officiate.  He  astonished  us 
all  with  an  address  of  singular  power  and  richness  of  thought. 
Nswela  is  a great  power  for  good  among  his  people,  he  was 
much  loved  on  the  station.  What  a joy  the  Gospel  has 
brought  to  that  blind  Congo  man ! 

The  Christian  people  of  Tungwa  have  been  a great  power 
for  righteousness  in  their  district ; they  have  gained  con- 
siderable influence,  and  have  interfered  in  cases  of  violence 
and  wrong.  The  threat  to  take  a matter  to  the  State  is  often 
sufficient  to  stop  wickedness  and  oppression  ; but  where  there 

VOL.  II  B b 


3?8 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


has  been  defiance,  they  have  helped  the  sufferers  to  appeal  to 
the  State,  or  have  acted  on  their  behalf.  The  prompt  inter- 
vention of  the  State,  and  the  imprisonment  or  other  punish- 
ment of  the  wrong-doer,  have  been  a very  salutary  lesson  to  the 
district;  at  the  same  time  the  people  of  the  town  helped 
have  been  ready  to  listen  to  the  teaching  of  their  Christian 
friends,  and  so  the  influence  has  spread. 

The  Christian  people  of  Tungwa  are  the  pick  of  the  town  ; 
there  is  a wide  difference  between  the  dirty,  dissolute,  super- 
stitious ‘great  man’  of  the  old  style,  who  may  be  found 
sometimes  lying  drunk  in  the  squares  of  the  town,  and  the 
kindly,  well-dressed,  cleanly,  educated  young  native  who 
keeps  his  bottle  of  quinine  and  a few  simple  medicines 
by  him,  reads  his  New  Testament  daily,  and  lives  the 
Christian  life.  Even  a heathen  native  can  see  a difference, 
and  wonder  how  it  comes  about.  This  is  a new  type  of 
greatness. 

Luyambula,  a young  man,  came  to  us  many  years  ago.  As 
his  master  handed  him  over  to  us,  he  said,  ‘ Go  and  learn  all 
that  you  can  in  school,  and  about  God,  and  then  come  and 
teach  us  in  the  town.’  He  came,  and  made  fair  progress  ; 
after  about  three  years  he  was  converted,  and  later  on  became 
an  evangelist  of  the  Church  for  a year  at  Kinsaku,  thirty  miles 
to  the  east  of  us.  He  worked  well  there,  and  after  serving 
the  Church  for  a year  he  went  to  live  in  his  town.  His  people 
had  broken  up  their  town  and  scattered,  to  avoid  each  other 
and  the  recruiting  officers  for  the  transport.  When  Luyam- 
bula returned,  they  built  a new  town,  on  a new  site,  with 
Luyambula,  in  order  to  be  near  to  him,  and  to  have  the 
advantage  of  his  teaching.  We  may  well  hope  good  things 
of  such  people. 

Percy  Comber  had  arranged  for  one  of  the  evangelists  to 
commence  work  at  Tungwa,  four  hours  and  a half  to  the  east 
of  Wathen.  He  died  before  the  young  man  could  be  sent. 
The  work  was  commenced  all  in  due  course,  and  after  a while 
Percy  Comber’s  personal  servant,  Kidudu,  took  it  over.  Kodia, 
the  chief  of  the  town,  was  a bad  man,  very  superstitious,  and 
opposed  to  the  Gospel ; but  for  the  friendship  of  Mena-yaku, 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-0'.) 


379 


a rich  trader  in  the  town,  we  should  never  have  gained  a foot- 
hold in  the  place.  About  twenty-five  people  used  to  gather 
regularly  in  the  services,  fifteen  came  to  the  school,  and  Kidudu 
preached  a good  deal  in  the  towns  round.  In,  1895  one  of 
the  people  was  baptized,  a most  intelligent  man  named  Mvika, 
a carpenter  of  some  ability.  In  March,  1896,  Mvika’s  wife, 
three  men,  and  a girl  of  fifteen  named  Ndala,  made  their 
profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  The  heathen  people  were  not 
surprised  that  the  men  made  profession,  for  they  had  been 
diligent  at  the  school  and  services  ; so,  too,  with  Mvika’s 
wife’s  conversion,  it  did  not  disturb  them  ; but  they  were 
indignant  that  the  girl  Ndala  should  profess  Christ.  ‘What 
has  a girl  like  that  to  do  with  God’s  palaver?’  they  said. 
They  were  angry  when  it  was  first  talked  about,  some  months 
before. 

One  of  Ndala’s  sisters  was  dying  of  ‘sleep  sickness,’  and 
she  was  accused  of  causing  it  by  sorcery.  Her  other  sister 
was  always  abusing  her,  and  the  townsfolk  did  the  same. 
When  the  poor  girl  went  to  market,  the  people  would  not  buy 
or  sell  to  her,  and  cursed  her.  Every  one  abused  her,  and 
threatened  violence ; but  she  attended  the  services  and 
school,  and  tried  to  live  it  down.  She  sought  relief  in 
visiting  a relative  in  another  town  ; but  when  she  reached 
her  house,  the  relative  asked  her  whether  she  had  come  to 
bewitch  her,  as  she  had  done  her  sister ; she  hounded  her 
out  of  the  town.  When  Cameron  went  over  and  baptized 
the  five,  the  persecution  only  increased. 

A month  later  they  were  starting  to  come  to  the  station, 
to  attend  the  Communion  Service  on  the  following  day. 
Ndala’s  sister  made  a disturbance  and  roused  the  people. 
They  said  that  Ndala  should  not  go.  Had  she  been  going 
to  a dance  and  debauchery  in  another  town,  no  one  would 
have  cared,  but  now  they  were  very  angry.  The  sister  begged 
the  chief  to  tie  her  up.  The  other  Christians  could  not  help 
her,  and  had  to  go  on  their  way,  leaving  her  behind,  tied  up  in 
the  chief’s  house.  As  the  men  of  the  town  tied  her  hands  and 
feet,  they  laughed,  and  said,  ‘ Now  we  shall  see  how  your 
Jesus  will  help  you  ; we  are  a little  too  strong  for  Him  here.* 

B b 2 


380 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


The  Christians  brought  us  the  news  to  Wathen,  and  we  were 
very  sad  for  the  poor  girl. 

To  our  utter  surprise,  the  next  morning  Ndala  walked  into 
our  meeting,  her  wrists  swollen  with  the  tying,  but  otherwise 
safe  and  well.  We  asked  her  how  she  had  escaped.  She  told 
us  that  in  the  evening  the  chief  had  brought  a pair  of  iron 
shackles,  which  remained  over  from  the  slaving  days.  He 
had  made  her  feet  fast  in  these,  and  had  loosened  her  hands. 
During  the  night  Ndala  managed  to  knock  out  the  pin  of 
the  shackles  with  the  pebble  which  the  chief  used  to  crush 
his  pepper.  She  did  it  without  waking  the  chief.  At  about 
4 o’clock  in  the  morning  the  chief  told  her  to  go  out  and 
fetch  a piece  of  firewood  to  make  up  the  fire  ; she  did  so,  and 
suddenly  flinging  down  her  shackles  with  a clang,  she  rushed 
out,  and  along  the  road  to  Wathen.  There  was  a little  moon- 
light. She  very  soon  heard  the  chief  close  behind  her,  and 
saw  that  her  flight  was  useless.  Ndala  darted  aside  into 
the  dense  jungle,  and  fell  down  in  it  just  as  he  passed.  He 
heard  the  noise,  and  thinking  that  it  was  one  of  his  men, 
called  out,  ‘ Where  is  she  ? ’ She  altered  her  voice,  and  said, 
‘Go  on ! go  on ! ’ and  he  did  so.  She  got  up,  and  struck 
down  into  the  valley,  through  the  jungle,  crossed  a stream, 
and  made  her  way  up  into  the  wood  ; then  by  a long  detour 
reached  the  Wathen  road.  By  dawn  she  had  passed  the  market 
which  she  had  sometimes  attended,  and  was  then  beyond  her 
limits.  She  knew  that  she  had  to  pass  a certain  town  which 
crowned  a distant  hill ; thence  her  course  was  easy. 

A few  days  later  I was  in  her  town,  and  the  people  said 
that  Ndala’s  Jesus  had  been  too  strong  for  them.  He  had 
indeed  helped  her  ; they  did  not  think  that  He  could  have 
done  so.  We  found  that  no  one  but  the  sister  had  any  right 
to  claim  her,  the  other  members  of  her  family  were  dead,  so 
she  remained  with  us.  Two  years  later  she  married  a young 
man  who  had  been  some  years  in  our  school,  and  had  since 
done  good  work  as  a teacher  and  in  the  printing  office. 

A few  days  after  the  escape  of  Ndala,  the  chief  ordered  the 
evangelist  to  leave,  and  Ip  take  his  Christians  away  with  him. 
We  managed  to  get  him  to  retract  that,  and  he  shifted  his 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-  99  381 

own  houses  and  those  of  his  heathen  party  to  another  site 
300  yards  away.  He  threatened  to  shoot  any  of  the  Christian 
party  who  set  foot  in  his  new  town.  Later  on  he  shifted 
again,  this  time  to  the  other  side  of  a deep  valley.  There  he 
found  that  his  people  died  as  often  as  when  they  were  near 
the  Christians,  and  then  he  expressed  his  regrets  at  his 
behaviour,  made  friends  with  the  Christians,  and  built  a 
meeting-house,  that  they  might  go  and  teach  there.  He 
sometimes  speaks  of  his  sinfulness  and  desire  for  salvation  in 
the  meetings,  and  we  may  hope  to  learn  soon  of  his  conversion. 
The  people  of  the  district  wonder  much  at  this  change,  for 
he  had  done  much  to  hinder  our  work  in  his  neighbourhood, 
and  to  prejudice  the  people  against  us.  At  the  end  of  1898 
it  was  considered  unnecessary  for  the  Church  to  support  an 
evangelist  there  any  longer,  so  Kidudu  went  elsewhere,  and 
the  Christian  people  maintain  the  work  themselves.  Three 
of  the  original  members  have  died  of  sleep  sicknes.s,  which 
has  wrought  great  havoc  there. 

Makitu,  the  paramount  chief  of  the  Wathen  district,  has 
often  been  mentioned  as  an  intelligent  friendly  chief  and  an 
active  trader.  He  was  the  first  native  chief  chosen  in  the 
Congo  State  to  serve  under  the  Government  as  a magistrate. 
He  was  solemnly  invested  with  a large  silver  medal  by 
the  district  commissioner,  in  the  great  local  market,  and 
given  a wide  district.  Many  have  since  been  so  appointed 
elsewhere,  and  this  has  been  a wise  provision  of  the  State 
for  the  government  of  the  people.  Makitu  kept  up  a con- 
siderable establishment,  having  over  forty  wives. 

Makitu  liked  us  personally,  and  found  us  very  helpful  in 
many  ways,  but  our  work  seemed  to  have  only  a negative 
result  in  him.  He  realized  that  he  was  a bad  man,  and 
gathered  from  our  teaching  that  without  a very  radical 
change  in  heart  and  life  he  could  not  hope  to  go  to  heaven. 
At  the  same  time,  he  was  rich  and  powerful,  and  he  did  not 
wish  to  give  up  his  drunkenness;  debauchery,  and  other  sins. 
He  made  up  his  mind  that  he  was  going  to  hell,  and  did  his 
best  to  ensure  that  the  rest  of  the  country  should  go  with  him. 
He  wanted  his  wives  to  cook  and  care  for  him  in  hell,  so 


382 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


he  was  anxious  that  none  of  them  should  be  converted.  He 
wished  to  retain  his  rich  and  active  slaves  for  the  other  world, 
and  desired  that  all  his  relatives  should  go  with  him  also,  in 
fact,  all  the  country  side.  He  had  always  a civil  tongue  for 
us,  but  relentlessly  and  artfully  blocked  our  work.  The  local 
chiefs  wished  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  so  powerful  a man, 
and  were  ready  to  support  him  in  the  secret  opposition  to  our 
work.  All  that  we  knew  was  that  the  work  in  our  neighbour- 


SOME  OF  MAKITU’S  WIVES 

hood  had  no  success,  but  in  one  town  to  the  west  of  us.  If 
any  one  showed  any  interest  in  our  teaching,  he  was  warned, 
and  became  at  once  indifferent.  We  knew  of  some  actual 
warnings.  One  man  in  our  nearest  town  was  told  that  if  he 
did  not  cease  attendance  on  our  services,  it  would  be  the 
simplest  thing  in  the  world  to  kill  him  secretly. 

Thomas  Cornber  brought  to  England  two  of  his  boys  in 
1885.  One  was  Mantu,  who  became  a very  useful  man  ; 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1S87-99 


383 


the  other  was  Lutunu,  a young  slave  of  Makitu.  Lutunu 
turned  out  very  badly,  and  his  influence  with  Makitu  was 
bad,  influencing  him  to  oppose  what  was  being  done  for  the 
development  of  the  country.  He  was  a worthless  wight  in 
his  town,  and  Makitu  often  wondered  what  made  such  a dif- 
ference between  Mantu  and  Lutunu ; they  had  had  both 
the  same  advantages,  and  had  both  been  to  Mputu  (Europe). 
The  one  turned  out  to  be  a reliable,  honest,  God-fearing 
man  ; the  other  such  a scapegrace.  Poor  Makitu  could  not 
understand  the  power  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  those  who 
are  obedient  to  His  Gospel,  and  often  referred  to  what  was 
to  him  a mystery. 

In  1883  a man  named  Lulendo  came  to  work  for  us  at 
Manyanga,  and  afterwards  at  Stanley  Pool.  Some  of  the 
seed  sown  in  those  early  days  found  a lodgement  in  his  heart ; 
it  did  not  lead  at  once  to  his  conversion,  but  rendered  him 
much  more  susceptible  to  Christian  influence.  He  was  a slave, 
and  was  sold  about  a great  deal.  He  was  a smart  fellow, 
and  no  doubt  was  often  a ’cuter  rogue  than  his  masters  ; 
at  any  rate,  he  changed  hands  several  times.  At  last  Makitu 
bought  him,  and  sent  him  on  the  upper  river  to  trade  for 
him.  At  Lukolela  Oram  found  him,  and  ascertained  that  he 
was  exercising  a good  influence  on  the  people,  telling  them 
not  to  disregard  our  teachings,  for  they  were  true,  and  im- 
portant to  all.  He  assured  them  that  he  had  no  faith  in 
charms,  and  that  he  prayed  to  God.  Oram  had  some  talks 
with  him,  and  was  surprised  that  he  knew  so  much,  and  was 
so  deeply  influenced.  He  wrote  to  me  about  him  when  I 
was  in  England  in  1892. 

On  my  return  to  the  Congo  I found  Lulendo.  He  was 
back  in  Makitu ’s  town,  but  seldom  came  to  our  services 
He  had  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  but  was  frequently 
committing  gross  sin,  and  was  renowned  in  all  the  country 
as  a wild  fellow.  With  all  this  wickedness  of  life  he  was 
not  left  to  go  his  own  way,  for  he  was  often  most  anxious 
about  his  soul.  Then  a fresh  outburst  of  sin  would  lead 
to  his  forgetting  his  fears,  and  afterwards  there  would  come 
fresh  misery,  as  he  remembered  that  there  would  come  an  end 


384 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


some  day,  and  then  how  would  he  give  an  account?  He 
would  pray  earnestly  for  forgiveness  ; and  as  he  had  often 
heard  that  God  is  very  gracious  and  merciful,  and  that  the 
prayers  which  were  offered  in  the  name  of  Jesus  were  heard, 
he  believed  that  his  prayers  were  heard  and  his  sins  forgiven. 
Then  he  would  keep  straight  for  a while,  and  reprove  wrong- 
doing in  others,  and  this  to  such  an  extent  that  the  townsfolk 
often  called  him  ‘ missionary,’  and  abused  him  soundly. 
Then  he  would  fall  into  temptation,  and  another  bout  of 
drunkenness,  and  more  terrible  repentance.  All  this  went 
on  without  his  coming  to  talk  to  us  about  his  soul,  or 
manifesting  any  special  concern. 

When  we  learned  how  things  were,  we  sought  to  explain 
to  him  the  things  of  God  more  carefully,  and  begged  him 
to  attend  the  services.  He  urged  us  to  commence  a school 
and  regular  teaching  at  Matadi.  We  did  so,  and  the  work 
was  full  of  promise.  Ponde  had  not  commenced  his  work  at 
Makuta  in  those  days,  and  gladly  undertook  this  new  outpost. 
Lulendo  attended  the  school,  and  for  a while  his  primer  was 
seldom  out  of  his  hand ; he  soon  made  headway,  and  became 
all  the  more  diligent ; he  studied  from  morning  to  night, 
and  in  six  weeks  could  read  and  understand  his  New 
Testament.  No  one  has  ever  learned  to  read  so  quickly. 
From  that  time  he  was  always  I'eading  whenever  he  had 
time  to  spare.  He  attended  the  daily  (evening)  service,  and 
drank  in  Ponde’s  teaching.  Very  often  fifty  or  sixty  attended 
the  service,  and  when  it  was  over  they  begged  for  another 
hymn,  and  then  another,  until  Ponde  had  to  stop,  for  it  was 
so  late. 

It  was  soon  evident  that  Lulendo  was  really  converted ; 
his  life  was  without  reproach.  He  and  two  others  signed  the 
pledge,  and  were  the  butt  of  the  town.  Lulendo  was  baptized 
on  May  31,  1895,  at  Makitu’s  town,  with  two  other  of 
Makitu’s  people,  who  had  been  trained  on  our  station,  and 
a man  from  our  nearest  town.  Lulendo  spoke  to  those 
gathered  to  witness  the  ordinance,  telling  them  of  his  past 
wicked  life  ; how  he  had  sought  and  found  the  Saviour,  and 
He  had  saved  him.  He  was  looking  to  Jesus  to  keep  him 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


385 


from  falling,  and  was  sure  that  He  could.  He  lived  a most 
exemplary,  bright  Christian  life  for  about  a year,  and  then 
died  of  pneumonia.  Makitu  imposed  much  upon  him,  working 
him  very  hard,  because  he  knew  that  Lulendo  wished  to 
do  his  duty,  even  to  his  unreasonable  master.  Sometimes 
he  tried  him  to  the  uttermost,  but  no  one  could  ever  point 
a finger  at  Lulendo. 

The  conversion  of  Lulendo  and  the  others  determined 
Makitu  to  oppose  our  work  more  strongly.  The  school  was 
stopped,  and  the  people  were  warned  to  keep  away  from  the 
services.  Soon  after,  Makitu  had  a frightful  drinking-bout, 
which  ended  in  epileptic  fits,  in  two  of  which  he  lay  un- 
conscious for  thirty  hours,  and  for  a fortnight  did  not  recover 
his  reason.  Ponde’s  life  was  threatened  ; he  had  to  leave 
the  town,  and  the  work  was  broken  up.  Some  months  later 
the  two  who  signed  the  pledge  were  baptized,  and  one  was 
driven  away  to  Stanley  Pool,  for  daring  to  make  a profession 
of  faith.  Lutunu  had  been  regularly  at  the  services,  and 
began  to  give  us  hopes  of  a changed  life,  but  grew  cold  again 
when  the  services  were  stopped.  Later  on,  however,  he 
became  thoroughly  awakened,  was  converted  and  baptized. 
He  exercises  an  excellent  influence  in  the  town. 

A man  named  Selulundi  was  chief  of  a town  four  hours  and 
a half  to  the  south  of  Wathen.  He  was  an  active  and  in- 
dustrious trader,  and  rapidly  grew  rich.  He  was  a slave,  and 
his  master  became  very  angry  at  his  slave’s  wealth  and 
influence,  while  he  himself  remained  poor  and  unknown. 
After  some  years  of  brooding  over  this  reverse  of  fortune, 
the  master  took  his  gun  and  blew  his  own  brains  out.  Suicide 
is  rare  among  the  natives,  but  this  was  a case  of  it. 

In  1896,  Selulundi  evidenced  considerable  interest  in  spiritual 
things,  and  often  came  for  a talk  with  me.  He  professed  con- 
version, and  desired  baptism.  He  had  five  wives,  and  knew 
our  teaching.  He  knew,  too,  that  while  we  did  not  require 
a man  who  had  married  more  than  one  wife  while  in  his  heathen 
state  to  put  away  the  extra  wife  or  wives,  we  maintained  most 
strongly  that  there  could  be  no  more  wives  added  after  such 
a man  became  a Christian.  I found  that  although  Selulundi 


386 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


had  those  five  wives,  he  was  also  betrothed  to  the  niece  of 
Makitu.  I told  him  that  match  must  be  broken  off.  He  said 
that  the  betrothal  had  taken  place  during  his  heathen  state, 
and  ought  to  be  considered  the  same  as  a marriage.  I told 
him  that  that  could  not  be.  He  held  out  for  some  time, 
feeling  that  a matrimonial  alliance  with  Makitu  was  a great 
thing,  and  not  to  be  so  readily  slighted.  He  then  expressed 
a readiness  to  break  off  the  match,  if  Cameron  and  I would 
go  with  him  to  Makitu.  Makitu  had  been  partner  with  him 
in  several  trading  expeditions,  and  held  at  the  moment  a great 
deal  of  SHulundi^s  capital.  We  feared  that  he  would  make 
this  an  excuse  for  keeping  what  he  held. 

Makitu  outwardly  received  the  matter  well ; but  when 
Selulundi  reached  home,  two  days  later,  he  found  the  young 
woman  in  his  house.  She  had  been  sent  by  Makitu,  with 
a large  party  to  celebrate  the  marriage.  Selulundi  would 
not  take  her,  and  with  difficulty  managed  to  send  her  and  her 
people  away  with  good  presents  in  three  days.  Then  he 
came  to  me  in  great  trouble.  His  people  urged  him  to  take 
her,  and  he  wanted  to  do  so  ; but  he  wished  first  to  arrange  it 
with  us.  He  argued  and  begged  ; but  we  could  not,  of  course, 
give  our  consent.  He  went  away  saying  that  he  must  have 
her,  cost  what  it  might.  Months  went  by  ; he  would  not 
abandon  the  match,  and  yet  dared  not  take  her.  I visited  his 
town,  and  we  had  long  talks  to  no  purpose.  He  would  call 
his  people  together  at  prayer  time,  and  after  my  address  he 
would  urge  his  people  to  accept  the  Gospel,  although  he  could 
not  himself  He  said  that  he  must  marry  the  young  woman, 
although  he  felt  that  it  was  at  the  price  of  his  soul.  He  was 
certainly  infatuated  at  the  time,  and  it  was  a fearful  mental 
struggle.  We  pitied  the  poor  man.  This  went  on  for  a whole 
year  ; yet  he  did  not  marry  her.  He  came  to  visit  us  again  ; 
the  subject  soon  came  up,  and  we  talked  for  some  hours.  At 
length  I was  urging  the  greatness  of  the  Saviour’s  love  for  us  ; 
what  He  had  given  up,  and  what  He  had  suffered  for  his 
salvation,  yet  this  was  all  to  be  unavailing  through  this  infa- 
tuation for  the  girl,  when  he  had  already  five  wives.  He  said 
that  it  was  an  infatuation.  I left  him  for  an  hour’s  quiet 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


3^7 


consideration,  and  when  I returned  from  my  evening  meal  he 
said  that  he  would  give  the  girl  up,  and  would  go  to  Makitu, 
and  tell  him  so  at  dawn  the  next  morning.  The  spell  was 
broken.  He  did  as  he  promised ; the  match  was  broken  off 
definitely.  Selulundi  in  doing  so  found  peace  and  salvation, 
and  has  lived  a bright,  earnest,  consistent  life  ever  since. 

Before  Selulundi’s  baptism,  he  brought  about  a great  reform 
in  the  country.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  country  that  if 
a man  owed  money,  and  did  not  pay  his  debt,  he  should  be 
sold : indeed,  a man  could  be  sold  for  a debt  of  two  pence. 
About  this  time  such  sales  became  exceedingly  common. 
Great  numbers  had  been  thus  sold,  and  people  began  to  say 
that  every  one  would  soon  be  a slave  of  Makitu  ; this  was 
really  probable,  if  they  had  remained  passive.  Selulundi  took 
the  matter  up,  and  persuaded  the  chiefs  of  six  towns  near  to 
him  to  form  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance.  Soon  after, 
Makitu,  to  his  great  surprise,  had  to  agree  to  a new  law  that 
if  any  man  ventured  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  he 
was  to  be  fined  a pig  and  a number  of  brass  rods,  according 
to  the  case. 

A matter  soon  cropped  up  to  test  the  spirit  of  the  people. 
A debt  was  owing  by  a man  in  Kimbanda  who  was  unable  to 
pay,  and  asked  time.  When  the  money  was  ready,  a day  was 
fixed  ; a disturbance  broke  up  the  local  market  the  day  before 
the  payment,  and  the  indispensable  palm-wine  could  not  be 
bought ; the  payment  was  postponed  by  arrangement,  until 
the  day  after  the  next  market.  The  creditor  wished  to  make 
a bigger  affair,  and  screw  more  money  out  of  his  debtor,  and 
as  he  was  one  of  the  many  fathers-in-law  of  Makitu,  he  was 
sure  that  his  son-in-law  would  not  bring  the  new  law  to  act 
in  his  case.  On  the  market-day  he  seized  his  debtor,  who  was 
buying  the  palm-wine,  tied  him  up  in  his  house,  and  sold  him 
to  some  of  Makitu’s  relatives  at  Nkondo.  Makitu  did  nothing; 
the  man  remained  quietly  at  Nkondo  for  a while,  and  then  ran 
to  the  station  to  ask  our  help.  He  wished  me  to  state  his 
case  on  paper,  and  to  let  him  take  it  to  the  State  judge  at 
Tumba.  The  people  who.  had  bought  him  came  to  demand 
him,  and  I begged  them  to  call  the  violent  creditor.  When 


388 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


he  came,  I told  the  people  that  we  were  not  judges  or  magis- 
trates ; all  such  matters  were  the  business  of  the  State,  and 
that  they  knew  right  well.  This  man,  however,  had  begged 
me  to  state  his  case  on  paper.  We  were  ready  to  help  any 
who  were  in  trouble,  and  all  were  our  friends.  It  was  not 
fair,  however,  to  write  thus  unless  both  stated  their  case. 
Both  made  their  statements,  and  I told  the  creditor  that 
if  this  matter  reached  the  ears  of  the  judge  he  would  be 
promptly  imprisoned  and  fined.  He  had  acted  in  a most 
unreasonable  manner,  contrary  to  State  and  native  law ; the 
parties  were  advised  to  settle  the  matter  among  themselves. 
Presently  they  came  back  to  say  that  the  creditor  would  pay 
back  to  the  Nkondo  people  the  money  with  which  they  bought 
the  man ; the  debtor  would  fetch  the  money  for  the  debt  at 
once  ; and  because  the  violent  creditor  had  broken  the  native 
law,  he  should  pay  i,ooo  brass  rods  and  a large  pig — to  be 
divided  among  the  local  chiefs — on  the  day  after  the  next 
market.  This  was  done,  and  the  matter  settled.  The  people 
came  to  realize  that  with  proper  courts  sitting  at  Tumba, 
the  reign  of  violence  in  the  country  was  at  an  end  ; and 
especially  so,  seeing  that,  under  Selulundi’s  influence,  native 
public  opinion  was  equally  against  wrong-doing.  The  change 
was  very  remarkable ; and  although  things  in  the  district  are 
not  yet  all  that  could  be  desired,  the  difference  between  the 
old  state  of  things  ten  years  ago  and  that  prevailing  to-day 
is  so  great  that  it  is  hard  to  realize  that  the  former  reign  of 
violence  can  have  existed. 

The  promptness  of  the  arrest  and  punishment  of  the  chief 
actors  in  a cruel  murder  of  a poor  woman  on  a charge  of 
witchcraft,  which  occurred  three  hours  to  the  south-west 
of  Wathen,  taught  the  people  that  those  abominations  must 
cease.  Other  matters  of  violence  and  cruelty  were  referred 
to  the  State,  and  most  of  them  were  so  dealt  with  that  the 
people  came  to  feel  that  there  was  a power  for  righteousness 
in  the  land  ; so  the  great  change  has  been  further  accentuated, 
and  peace,  safety,  and  security  of  life  and  property  is  taking 
the  place  of  the  shameless  anarchy  and  violence  which  once 
prevailed.  It  is  this  combination  of  mission  work  with  a wise 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


389 


and  just  government  which  alone  can  bring  order  out  of  this 
chaos,  and  really  elevate  the  people.  A mission  alone  can 
do  great  things  ; but  the  time  would  be  long,  and  the  victims 
of  cruelty  many,  before  the  change  would  come  over  the  mass 
of  the  people.  A Government  alone  might  follow  up  such 
matters  as  came  to  its  notice;  but  without  the  spiritual  and 
moral  influences  of  a mission  little  could  result.  The  two 
working  together,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  tend  to  the  rapid 
evolution  of  a new  and  higher  type  of  native,  and  a com- 
plete transformation  of  the  whole  life  of  the  people.  There 
should  be  no  cross-purposes  between  the  two  forces  thus 
acting,  but  each  should  work  in  its  own  sphere,  with  hearty 
co-operation. 

Selulundi’s  energies  were  next  put  out  in  the  building  of 
a brick  house.  He  saw  what  we  were  doing  on  the  station 
in  the  way  of  brick-making,  and  went  to  see  how  Roger  was 
doing  at  Arthington  Station.  He  decided  to  start  work  for 
himself.  His  brother  Mvemba  had  left  our  school,  and  was 
carrying  on  evangelistic  school  work  in  his  town.  SHulundi 
got  our  carpenter  to  make  him  some  brick-moulds,  hired  some 
boys  who  worked  with  him  at  the  brick-making  until  four 
o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  then  they  went  to  school  with 
his  brother.  He  was  not  quite  .satisfied  with  the  system  of 
draught  in  the  white  men’s  kilns,  and  planned  his  own  style  of 
kiln,  which  was  a great  success.  So  he  built  his  house  with 
three  rooms : one  for  a school  and  chapel,  one  room  for 
a missionary  or  other  white  visitor,  and  one  to  be  his  general 
storehouse,  which  would  be  fireproof.  He  sent  his  young 
men  to  trade  for  him  in  india-rubber,  and  sold  it  to  the  traders 
for  iron  sheets  for  the  roof.  A verandah  protects  the  walls 
from  the  rain. 

Selulundi  is  an  earnest  Christian  man,  and  his  influence  for 
good  is  very  great.  The  State  Government  has  wisely  recog- 
nized his  superior  abilities  by  conferring  upon  him  the  silver 
medal,  which  makes  him  a magistrate  and  over-lord  in  his 
district.  We  may  hope  that  his  active  mind  will  help  him  to 
effect  the  reformation  of  his  people,  as  he  so  keenly  desires. 
A good  number  have  made  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  from 


390 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


among  his  people  ; his  town  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as 
a heathen  town,  although  only  a proportion  of  his  people  can 
be  regarded  as  Christian  converts.  A daily  service  is  conducted 
in  the  brick  chapel,  and  the  new  influences  cannot  fail  to  affect 
the  district. 

Makitu  died  in  April,  1899,  and  his  son  Dimbu,  a lad  of 
sixteen,  who  had  been  educated  at  Wathen,  is  appointed  his 
successor.  Dimbu  knew  his  father’s  strong  feeling  against 
Christianity,  and  while  he  was  always  a well-behaved  boy,  he 
has  so  far  given  no  evidence  of  a change  of  heart.  We  can 
but  hope  that  the  seed  sown  will  spring  up  and  bear  fruit  in 
a life  powerful  for  good.  His  mother  is  a good  Christian 
woman.  Because  he  was  so  young,  Lutunu  has  been  appointed 
by  the  District  Commissioner  to  act  as  regent.  Lutunu’s 
conversion  occurred  during  Makitu’s  lifetime,  and  brought 
a great  deal  of  trouble  upon  him,  so  that  he  has  been  well 
tested.  These  new  influences  should  make  a great  difference 
in  the  district. 

Four  and  a half  hours  to  the  south  of  Syulundi’s  town 
there  lives  another  medalled  chief,  and  he  too  is  a member  of 
the  Church.  Nuni-amazi  is  another  man  deeply  anxious  to 
see  a thorough  reformation  in  his  country.  He  was  converted 
through  the  teaching  of  his  nephew,  who  was  trained  in  our 
school.  He  is  trying  hard  to  change  the  custom  of  marriage 
dowries,  which  are  the  cause  of  so  much  litigation  and  wrong 
in  the  country.  When  one  of  his  own  wives  died,  he  set 
a good  example,  by  waiving  all  claim  to  the  customary 
compensation,  and  begs  others  to  do  the  same.  It  is  very 
remarkable  to  see  the  intelligence  of  these  men  enlightened 
by  the  Gospel.  The  ordinary  heathen  man  is  so  stupid  and 
dense,  and  withal  so  artful,  that  he  will  not  see  the  evil  of 
the  customs  of  the  country  which  provide  him  with  so  many 
opportunities  for  extortion  ; no  thoughts  of  right  and  better 
things  come  to  him  ; but  as  soon  as  such  a man  becomes 
converted,  the  old  state  of  things  becomes  intolerable,  and  he 
is  anxious  to  see  very  radical  changes.  ‘ The  entrance  of 
Thy  Word  giveth  light.’ 

The  nephew  who  commenced  the  Christian  work  in  Nuni- 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  18S7-99  391 

amazi’s  town  fell  into  sin,  and  disgraced  himself ; but  he  had 
done  so  much  good  work  among  his  people  that  several  had 
professed  their  faith  in  baptism,  and  others  were  giving  us 
good  hopes.  The  work  was  so  full  of  promise  that  it  was 
felt  that  one  of  the  evangelists  of  the  Church  should  be 
located  there,  for  a while  at  least,  until  the  local  Christians 
could  do  the  work.  Mbandila  was  placed  in  charge  of  it. 
He  had  recently  recovered  from  a long  and  most  painful 
disorder  of  the  knee-joint,  which  had  prevented  locomotion, 
and  kept  him  lying  on  his  back  for  more  than  two  years.  His 
patience  and  Christian  fortitude  under  his  suffering  were  very 
remarkable,  and  witnessed  to  the  grace  of  God  in  his  heart. 
His  is  a very  bright  character. 

There  was  another  case  about  that  time,  of  the  lapse  of  one 
who  was  seeking  to  do  Christian  work  in  his  town.  He  lived 
at  Lulombe,  near  to  the  Tumba  Railway  Station.  He  yielded 
to  temptation,  and  had  to  become  the  subject  of  Church 
discipline,  but  he  too  had  previously  done  so  well  in  his 
teaching  that  several  of  his  townsfolk  were  brought  to  trust 
in  Jesus,  and  will  soon  be  baptized  (1899).  The  converts 
traced  their  first  impressions  and  spiritual  awakening  to  some 
addresses  and  talks  with  me,  at  different  times,  when  I had 
visited  their  town ; but  when  the  young  man  settled  in  his 
town  and  commenced  regular  work  the  impressions  were 
revived  ; they  were  led  by  him  to  the  Saviour,  and  are  living 
consistent  lives. 

It  is  a wonder  that,  with  all  the  temptations  and  the 
general  atmosphere  of  a heathen  town,  there  have  not  been 
more  lapses  on  the  part  of  our  converts.  We  feel,  however, 
that  there  is  little  strength  to  resist  sin,  unless  they  undertake 
some  Christian  work,  and  urge  them  so  to  do.  A faithful 
testimony  for  Christ,  and  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  others, 
are  the  best  tonics  to  a man’s  own  spiritual  life  ; this  we  seek 
to  impress  upon  all.  On  the  whole,  the  character  of  our 
native  converts  is  very  good.  When  we  consider  the  stock 
from  which  they  come,  and  the  conditions  under  which  their 
forefathers  have  lived  all  through  the  ages ; their  own  early 
training ; the  utter  absence  of  moral  support  in  their  sur- 


392 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


roundings,  where  no  public  opinion  against  sin  exists,  and 
everything  tends  to  drag  them  down,  temptations  abound 
from  within  and  without,  we  can  but  wonder  at  the  grace  of 
God,  which  has  changed  their  hearts  and  keeps  them  from 
falling. 

Another  interesting  feature  of  the  work  has  been  the  way 
in  which  those  who  have  been  under  our  influence,  and  have 
left  us  without  any  signs  of  a changed  heart,  have  afterwards 
— and  sometimes  after  a long  interval — been  brought  into 
the  fold  of  Christ.  We  have  had  many  instances  of  this. 
In  the  case  of  Lutunu,  ten  years  of  godless  life  in  his  town 
passed  before  he  began  to  seek  the  Saviour.  Here  is  another 
example.  Mpukuta  had  been  slightly  punished  for  some 
breach  of  duty.  It  happened  that  it  was  his  month  to  sweep 
the  school  and  open  and  shut  the  many  windows — there  are 
four-foot  windows  nearly  all  the  way  round  it.  He  sulked 
in  one  of  the  boys’  houses  because  of  his  punishment ; when 
a violent  tornado  came  he  would  not  shut  the  windows,  and 
two  or  three  were  wrenched  off  and  thrown  down.  Further 
punishment  was  administered  for  this,  and  when  he  had 
received  it  he  said  that  he  would  leave  at  once.  We  advised 
him  to  wait  until  the  morning,  when  cooler  judgement  would 
show  him  how  much  severer  punishment  he  really  deserved. 
He  was  a high-spirited  boy,  and  left  at  once,  with  only  the 
clothes  he  stood  up  in.  We  were  very  sorry,  for  we  feared 
that  we  should  not  only  lose  the  boy,  but  all  influence  in 
his  town.  He  went  away  to  the  service  of  the  railway 
company  for  a while,  and  then  returned  to  his  town.  He 
had  so  far  disgraced  himself  over  his  departure  from  us, 
that  he  was  ashamed  to  visit  the  station.  After  a time  we 
heard  that  he  was  holding  a school  in  his  town,  and  when 
Cameron  went  to  inquire,  he  found  that  the  good  seed  sown 
in  the  heart  of  the  boy  had  sprung  up,  and  was  bearing  fruit 
in  a consistent  Christian  life.  Away  from  us  he  remembered 
the  teaching,  and  the  advantages  which  once  were  his,  and 
he  sought  and  found  the  Saviour.  In  his  town  he  had 
a school  of  ten  boys,  and  was  seeking  to  lead  his  townsfolk 
to  Christ.  Many  other  interesting  stories  might  be  told  of 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1887-99 


393 


our  work,  and  of  the  boys  who  have  been  under  our  influence, 
but  the  above  must  suffice. 

One  matter  that  calls  for  note  is  the  moral  tone  of  the 
boys  and  girls  thus  gathered  together  upon  our  station.  Our 
school  work  grew  gradually  : when  their  numbers  were  small, 
we  were  able  to  look  well  after  them  ; but  even  when  the 
numbers  grew  large,  we  w'ere  able  to  keep  them  well  in  hand. 

It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  hear  complaints  of  the  native 
boys  on  service  in  trading  and  other  establishments ; they 
are  generally  considered  to  be  great  thieves.  This,  however, 
has  been  no  difficulty  with  us.  There  have  been  a few  cases 
of  boys  who  were  very  troublesome,  especially  in  the  way  of 
stealing  meat  and  other  food  from  each  other.  Most  of  these 
were  boys  who  had  been  forced  often  to  steal  or  starve 
in  their  towns.  We  find,  however,  the  mass  of  our  boys  to 
be  remarkably  honest.  The  children  have  ready  access  to 
our  houses,  and  come  at  all  times,  and  frequently,  but  nothing 
ever  disappears.  How  often  I have  left  money  out  for  days 
on  my  desk — careless  on  my  part,  it  may  be,  but  the  need 
for  care  is  never  brought  home  to  us.  Knives,  scissors,  useful 
things  lie  about  in  perfect  safety.  I once  lost  a chatelain 
chain,  with  some  keys,  a framed  portrait  of  my  father,  and 
two  table  knives,  but  that  is  the  extent  of  the  losses  of  my 
personal  property  by  theft  which  have  come  to  my  know- 
ledge at  any  time.  If  a boy  leaves  his  own  brass  rods  about 
on  his  bed,  they  might  disappear;  and  dainty  morsels  of 
meat  tied  up  in  a leaf,  and  reserved  in  foolish  places  until 
to-morrow  morning,  do  sometimes  fall  a prey  to  hungry  boys 
who  have  made  no  such  provision  ; but  we  have  practically 
no  fault  to  find  with  the  honesty  of  our  boys.  We  are  more 
careful  of  our  property  when  itinerating  in  the  native  towns, 
but  scarcely  ever  have  we  had  anything  to  complain  of  there. 

In  other  matters  in  which  we  might  be  expected  to  have 
trouble  with  a number  of  boys  thus  gathered  together  from 
heathen  homes,  we  have  the  help  of  our  Christian  young 
people.  We  expect  them  to  keep  their  eyes  and  ears  open, 
and  to  exercise  a moral  influence  among  the  boys.  We  con- 
stantly impress  this  upon  them,  and  they  know  the  responsi- 

VOL.  II.  C c 


394 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


bility  which  is  laid  upon  them.  The  result  has  been,  and 
is,  an  excellent  moral  tone  upon  the  station,  and  this  we  are 
most  anxious  to  maintain.  Our  own  efforts,  seconded  by 
those  who  are  seeking  to  live  the  Christian  life  among  the 
boys,  have  been  singularly  successful  ; and  we  are  very 
thankful  for  it. 

The  school  work  has  made  steady  progress,  not  only  in 
quantity  but  also  in  quality.  In  the  early  stages  our  boys 
were  satisfied  with  but  very  small  accomplishments  ; a boy 
who  could  read  very  indifferently,  whose  achievements  in 
writing  were  smaller  still,  was  so  far  ahead  of  his  surroundings 
that  he  was  eminently  satisfied.  We  could  not  get  them  very 
far.  Others  came  and  passed  them  while  they  stagnated,  so 
we  progressed,  wave  upon  wave,  until  the  standard  attained 
is  very  good.  The  Scripture  teaching  is  given  in  the  daily 
services.  During  the  school  hours — from  two  to  four  in  the 
afternoon — they  learn  the  three  ‘ R’s,’  geography,  ancient 
history,  singing,  sewing  (boys  and  girls) ; the  senior  boys 
learn  French,  and  for  some  time  my  wife  had  a class  in 
telegraphy.  While  in  England,  in  1888,  she  took  proper 
lessons  to  enable  her  so  to  do,  and  by  the  kindness  of  friends 
we  were  provided  with  two  Morse  sounders,  wire,  and  fittings, 
and  a line  was  set  up  upon  the  station.  Some  of  the  boys 
learned  fairly  well,  but  they  had  not  heard  of  any  one  getting 
good  appointments  by  a knowledge  of  telegraphy,  so  put  but 
little  heart  into  it.  Now  that  the  railway  is  finished,  and 
a line  of  telegraph  is  being  laid  from  the  coast  to  Stanley 
Falls,  it  may  be  that  some  will  wake  up  to  the  possibilities  of 
telegraphy  as  a means  of  livelihood. 

The  strain  upon  my  wife,  of  the  growing  school  work, 
necessitated  further  help,  and  this  was  latterly  rendered  by 
one  of  the  missionaries,  as  far  as  his  other  duties  would  allow. 
Then  her  sister.  Miss  Feisser — now  Mrs.  John  Bell — came  to 
her  assistance,  and  in  1898  Miss  Brindal  was  added  to  our 
staff  for  school  work. 

As  a rule,  the  work  of  the  school-boys  commences  at  nine 
o’clock  in  the  morning,  after  the  morning  service.  They  work 
in  the  plantations  and  in  other  ways  until  noon  ; they  are  in 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-99 


395 


school  from  two  o’clock  until  four  ; then  they  go  to  work 
again  until  sunset — six  o’clock.  Sunset  only  varies  to  the 
extent  of  half  an  hour  all  through  the  year,  so  we  set  our 
watches  by  it.  Some  of  the  bigger  boys  get  a trifling  pay, 
and  they  in  consequence  commence  work  at  six  o’clock  in  the 
morning.  Beside  the  plantation  and  garden  work,  there  is 
water  to  fetch,  fencing,  road-making — a favourite  occupation 
of  my  wife’s, — store- work,  rough  carpentry,  brick  making 
and  laying,  store-keeping,  the  preparation  of  the  food,  and 


A 


MISSION  HOUSE,  WATHEN.  THE  CHILDREN  FROM  MR.  BELL’S  DISTRICT 


apportioning  of  what  is  bought,  house-work,  laundry-work, 
fowls,  donkeys,  and  other  live  stock  to  be  cared  for,  some 
orphan  babies  to  be  nursed ; four  or  five  boys  will  be 
assisting  at  the  surgery,  others  will  be  at  work  in  the 
printing  office.  A variety  of  operations  are  always  in  pro- 
gre,ss  ; there  is  plenty  of  work  to  do,  no  one  need  be  idle. 
On  Sunday  morning,  the  towns  within  reach  are  visited  by 
the  missionaries  and  Christian  natives,  the  morning  service 
being  taken  by  my  wife  or  one  of  the  Christian  women, 

C c 2 


396 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


In  the  afternoon  a service  is  held,  to  which  a goodly  number 
of  natives  gather.  They,  with  the  school-boys  and  the 
people  of  Vianga-Vianga  (the  village  beside  us),  already  fill 
the  room — 36  ft.  by  40  ft. — which  serves  for  school  and  chapel. 
There  is  a break  after  the  service  for  half  an  hour,  then  the 
Sunday  school  gathers  under  Cameron’s  superintendence  ; 
those  who  have  attended  the  previous  service  largely  remain 
for  this,  young  and  old.  Some  of  the  classes  are  held  in  the 
school-room,  others  are  grouped  in  the  wide  verandah  ; it  is 
a most  interesting  work.  In  the  evening  the  missionaries 
generally  dine  together,  and  spend  the  evening  in  talking 
over  the  work,  and  with  hymns  and  prayers. 

In  playtime  on  week-days,  hockey — mbadi — is  the  favourite 
game ; in  the  evening,  the  boys  are  very  fond  of  a game 
called  inbele.  The  boys  stand  in  two  lines  facing  each  other, 
about  twenty  feet  apart,  clapping  their  hands,  and  singing  to 
the  beat  of  some  ditty — often  improvised  on  the  spot — set  to 
a weird  chant.  A boy  dances  out  from  one  side,  and  jigs  and 
capers  round  several  times,  and  one  from  the  opposite  side 
comes  out  in  the  same  way  to  meet  him.  They  wheel  and 
caper,  clapping  their  hands,  until  suddenly  the  first  boy  darts 
out  one  of  his  hands  ; the  other  should  meet  it  with  the  same 
hand  on  his  part.  It  is  such  an  instantaneous  action  on  both 
sides,  that  often  a left  hand  is  put  out  to  meet  the  right ; but 
should  the  second  boy  meet  his  opponent’s  hand  correctly 
three  times  running,  the  first  boy  retires,  and  he  holds  the 
court  until  he  can  be  met  three  times  by  some  other  boy. 
They  will  play  this  in  the  moonlight  or  starlight  by  the  hour 
together,  until  the  curfew  bell  rings  at  9 o’clock,  when  the 
boys  have  to  put  out  their  lights  and  go  quietly  to  bed. 
One  of  their  games,  but  seldom  played,  is  very  amusing. 
A large  court  is  marked  off,  and  some  twenty  boys  will  go  on 
all  fours,  but  face  uppermost.  One  boy  will  be  ‘antelope,’ 
and  the  rest  hunt  him  ; he  stands  up,  and  runs  about,  and 
jumps  over  them  as  they  crowd  him  into  the  corners  ; they 
try  to  touch  him  with  one  of  their  feet.  The  one  who 
succeeds  in  so  doing  becomes  ‘ antelope.’  The  absurd 
position  in  which  they  scuttle  about,  their  remarkable 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1SS7-99 


397 


activity,  make  it,  for  the  onlookers,  the  funniest  game 
imaginable.  We  are  glad  that  there  are  such  simple  outlets 
for  the  exuberance  of  the  bright,  happy  life  of  the  lovable 
young  people  whom  we  thus  gather  round  us.  They  work 
while  they  work,  and  play  while  they  play  ; whatever  we  may 
think  of  the  former,  they  certainly  carry  out  the  latter  with 
a right  good  will. 

The  African  is  wonderfully  light-hearted,  and  the  station 
life  is  very  happy ; were  it  not  so,  we  could  not  retain  the 
boys  with  us  so  long  as  we  do.  With  all  this  happiness 
there  are  gracious  influences  working  in  their  hearts.  Those 
among  them  who  have  given  their  hearts  to  the  Saviour 
seek  very  earnestly  to  lead  the  others  to  Him,  and  are  very 
good  in  finding  opportunities  to  urge  them  to  decision  for 
Christ.  A great  deal  of  the  success  of  the  work  upon  the 
station  is  due  to  this.  Nearly  all  my  time  in  the  evening 
is  taken  up  with  personal  talks  with  our  young  people,  who 
come  to  ask  for  help  in  spiritual  things.  They  often  wait, 
two  or  three  at  a time,  for  the  chance  of  a talk  with  me. 
When  I ask  one  after  another,  as  I call  them  to  me,  what 
started  these  desires  after  a clean  heart,  and  for  Christ’s 
salvation,  a boy  will  say  that  he  went  for  a stroll  with  So- 
and-So,  and  he  urged  him  very  strongly  to  give  his  heart 
to  the  Saviour,  and  to  take  into  his  heart  the  teaching  which 
was  daily  given  him  ; what  hope  for  him  could  there  be,  if  he 
slighted  this  great  salvation  ? To  some  the  light  soon  comes, 
but  with  others  there  is  a long  period  of  difficulty ; some 
lose  interest,  but  many  have  really  yielded  to  the  Saviour, 
and  their  consistent  life  and  hearty  service  have  evidenced 
the  thoroughness  of  the  acceptance  of  Christ.  They  in  their 
turn  will  seek  to  bring  in  others,  and  some  have  been  very 
helpful  and  successful  in  this  work.  With  such  helpers  among 
those  on  the  station,  we  are  able  to  bring  a personal  influence 
to  bear  on  all  who  come  to  us,  for  we  can  often  suggest 
names  to  these  workers.  My  own  work  in  this  way  is  but  an 
instance  of  what  my  colleagues  are  doing,  and  is  only  to  that 
end  mentioned. 

Until  Lo  commenced  his  work  at  Kinsuka  in  1891,  the 


398  DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION:  1SS7-99 


Church  accounts  were  all  receipts,  and  no  expenditure ; 
the  brass  rods  accumulated  for  two  and  a half  years.  When 
Lo  began  to  draw,  he  did  not  take  all  that  came  in  by  any 
means ; indeed,  there  was  a surplus  for  many  years.  The 
brass  rod  of  the  currency  became  shorter  and  shorter,  and  in 

1894  we  noticed  that  a large  number  of  rods  in  the  Church 
treasury  box  were  more  than  twice  the  length  of  those  then 
current ; we  therefore  cut  them  down  to  the  current  length  of 
ten  inches,  and  sold  the  little  pieces  to  the  local  blacksmith. 
By  keeping  the  rods,  their  value  had  more  than  doubled.  In 

1895  the  Church  had  a balance  of  10,000  rods,  and  then  we 
became  concerned  at  the  influx  of  francs  into  the  country. 
The  State  was  paying  for  its  transport  in  francs,  and  the 
carriers  bought  with  the  money  what  cloth  and  things  they 
wanted,  and  took  some  home  with  them.  So  francs  became 
common.  The  Church  therefore  decided  to  sell  them  at  the 
rate  of  ten  rods  to  the  franc.  The  sale  went  on  slowly,  for 
the  rate  of  rods  fixed  was  low  ; it  was  accomplished,  however, 
and  1,000  francs  (;^4o)  is  the  result.  This  money  lies  banked 
in  the  Post  Office  Savings  Bank  in  the  name  of  the  Church. 
This  fund  serves  as  a working  capital  for  the  Church.  It 
often  happens  now  that  the  income  of  the  Church  exceeds 
the  expenditure  ; but  with  this  money  banked  the  Church  is 
allowed  to  overdraw,  and  where  the  exigencies  of  the  work 
require,  a serious  overdraft  is  possible,  to  be  recouped  as  the 
increasing  liberality  of  the  native  Christians  permit.  The 
present  six  out-stations  of  the  Church  are  a heavy  drain  upon 
its  resources  ; but  when  the  work  done  in  them  begins  to  tell, 
the  sums  collected  at  them  will  help  to  right  things.  So 
the  Church  by  this  fund  is  enabled  to  do  what  would  other- 
wise be  impossible  without  such  a reserve  to  fall  back  upon. 
So  this  piece  of  financing  has  saved  the  situation.  Now 
the  transport  is  over,  the  railway  is  complete,  and  francs  are 
not  often  seen  at  Wathen  ; we  made  the  change  at  the  right 
time.  The  local  currency  must  change,  for  the  rod  is  reduced 
to  an  absurdity  ; but  it  is  not  possible  to  see  what  will  be 
the  outcome:  perhaps  francs  and  copper  coins  will  become 
the  medium  of  exchange. 


MR.  BENTLEV’s  HOUSE  AT  VVATHEN 


400 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


It  was  pointed  out  on  one  occasion  that  the  people  at 
Tungwa  had  been  slack  in  the  matter  of  contribution  to  the 
Church  fund.  They  considered  the  matter,  and  fined  them- 
selves T,ooo  short  brass  rods  of  the  local  currency  (about 
thirty-three  francs),  which  they  raised  at  once  as  ‘ the  Lord’s 
fine.’  A healthy  example,  which  might  be  followed  at  home 
sometimes. 

Before  Mr.  Josiah  Wade  gave  the  printing  presses  now  at 
Lukolela  and  San  Salvador,  some  friends  in  connexion  with 
the  Congregational  Church  at  Bromley,  Kent,  gave  me  a press 
and  furnished  it.  This  press  has  turned  out  some  useful  work 
at  Wathen.  A magazine  was  run  for  more  than  a year  in 
1891-2,  called  Se  Knkianga,  ‘The  dawn  is  breaking.’  It  was 
discontinued  during  my  furlough  of  1892-3,  and  the  San 
Salvador  press  now  prints  the  Kongo  Magazine.  Its  later 
productions  have  been  our  Kongo  hymn-book,  containing 
247  hymns,  a good  number  of  which  are  composed  by  natives. 
We  have  also  printed  a Conversation  Guide  in  French,  Kongo, 
Portuguese,  and  Dutch,  by  my  wife. 

Temperance  work  is  carried  on  in  connexion  with  the 
station.  Although  we  do  not  make  it  a sine  qtia  non  of 
Church  fellowship,  the  members  of  the  Church  are  all  ab- 
stainers, and  the  pledge-roll  contains  the  names  of  many  who 
are  not  members  of  the  Church,  although  much  influenced 
by  our  teaching.  If  total  abstinence  is  advisable  at  home, 
still  more  so  is  it  necessary  on  the  Congo.  Drunkenness 
through  drinking  palm-wine  is  so  very  common,  and  it  is  so 
easy  to  fall  into  excess,  that  our  people  realize  the  necessity 
of  avoiding  intoxicants  altogether,  and  are  very  keenly  urgent 
for  it.  There  is  a great  Continental  Society  of  the  Blue  Cross, 
having  its  centre  at  Geneva,  and  national  sections  in  Switzer- 
land, France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Hungary,  Slavonia,  Denmark, 
and  Palestine.  Seeing  that  the  Congo  State  is  practically 
Belgian,  we  have  affiliated  our  Wathen  temperance  work  with 
the  Belgian  section  of  the  Blue  Cross  Society.  This  has  given 
much  pleasure  to  many  friends  in  Belgium,  and  gives  us 
another  link  with  Christian  work  there.  The  affiliation  has 
only  recently  been  effected. 


THE  CATARACT  REGION ; 1887-99 


401 


We  have  many  warm  friends  among  the  Protestants  in 
Belgium,  more  especially  in  connexion  with  the  Eglise 
Chretienne  Missionnaire  Beige.  Many  of  their  Sunday 
schools  collect  money  for  the  support  of  children  in  our 
Wathen  schools.  This  kindly  interest  on  the  part  of  Belgian 
Protestants  is  much  appreciated  by  us.  Being  so  small  a body, 
and  with  so  much  to  do  in  Belgium,  they  regret  their  present 
inability  to  undertake  mission  work  on  the  Congo,  which 
is  practically  their  colony. 

We  have  also  a Christian  Endeavour  Society,  of  which 
some  interesting  stories  might  be  told.  It  has  been  very 
practical  in  its  outworking,  and  has  led  to  most  interesting 
developments  of  true  Christian  helpfulness  on  the  station 
and  at  some  of  the  outposts. 

The  work  extending,  deepening,  and  maturing,  calls  for 
further  efforts  for  the  development  of  those  gifts  and  graces 
which  are  evidencing  themselves  among  the  people.  Out  in 
the  towns  there  are  a goodly  number  of  young  Christian  men 
who  have  gained  some  education  at  the  outpost  schools,  and 
have  been  brought  to  Christ  in  their  towns.  Some  of  these 
need  to  be  brought  on  further,  and  some  arrangements  for  an 
extended  teaching  of  the  most  promising  is  needed,  in  order 
to  fit  them  for  Christian  work  in  their  own  neighbourhoods. 
So  far  we  have  invited  all  such  to  come  to  Wathen  once 
a quarter  for  a week  of  special  classes. 

The  story  of  Wathen  has  been  given  in  fuller  detail  than 
that  of  the  other  stations,  because  of  my  own  personal 
knowledge  of  it ; it  must  be  taken  as  a type  of  our  work 
carried  on  elsewhere  in  Congoland,  under  varying  circum- 
stances and  at  different  stages  of  progress. 

Comber  Memorial  Station — Zombo. 

Seventy  miles  to  the  east  of  San  Salvador  lies  the  plateau 
district  of  Zombo.  The  Zombo  people  have  already  been 
mentioned  as  active,  intelligent  traders,  and  an  exceptionally 
fine  race.  Thomas  Comber  hoped  to  have  made  his  way  to 
Stanley  Pool  through  Zombo  when  other  routes  failed,  but 


402 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


that  road  proved  to  be  closed  also.  In  1891  we  began  to 
consider  the  possibility  of  commencing  work  in  the  district, 
and  a scheme  for  so  doing  was  laid  before  the  Committee  in 
1893.  The  financial  position  of  the  Society  precluded  all 
thought  of  such  advance  then.  In  the  dry  season  of  1896 
I was  on  my  way  to  the  Tungwa  and  Makuta  district,  when 
I met  at  Tumba  an  American  missionary  who  had  just  been 
prospecting  to  the  eastward.  At  Ntumba-mani  he  had  met 
a Portuguese  officer  named  Escarivo,  who  had  come  there 
from  his  post  at  Makela  in  Zombo.  I resolved  to  visit  the 
Portuguese  post  at  Makela,  if  my  way  should  be  opened  up. 

Next  day  I sought  for  Divine  guidance,  and  within  two 
hours  it  came.  We  had  no  food,  so  at  the  fir-St  town  I sat 
down  to  rest,  and  sent  the  boys  to  the  houses  to  seek  some 
cassava  puddings:  they  found  some  just  ready.  ‘Where  are 
you  going?’  asked  a man  from  Vunda,  near  Wathen,  whom 
they  met  as  they  went  for  the  food.  I have  never  met  any 
of  our  neighbours  in  the  Makuta  district  before.  I replied, 
‘ I am  going  to  Makuta  and  Tungwa,  and  if  possible  to  Zombo.’ 
‘ What  part ? ’ ‘To  Makela.’  ‘ We  have  just  come  from  there, 
and  there  is  a Makela  man  with  us.  We  have  been  buying 
percussion  caps  from  the  Zombos.’  ‘ What  is  the  best  road 
to  Makela?’  I soon  took  down  a very  correct  list  of  the 
towns  between  there  and  Makela.  I thanked  them,  the  boys 
ate  their  puddings,  and  we  continued  our  journey  ; now  I had 
the  information  for  which  I was  seeking.  They  were  the  only 
people  who  knew  where  Makela  was  ; at  most  of  the  towns 
on  the  way,  no  one  had  ever  heard  of  the  place. 

An  interesting  coincidence,  some  may  say.  I am  so  used 
to  ‘ interesting  coincidences  ’ that  I quite  expect  them,  and 
was  very  curious,  as  I walked  along  that  morning,  as  to  what 
form  my  guidance  would  take.  When  it  came  it  was  ac- 
cepted as  ‘the  finger  of  God.’ 

I visited  Tungwa  and  Makuta,  and  then  went  on  to  Zombo, 
following  the  route  given  me  by  the  Makela  man  whom  I met 
on  the  road.  On  the  third  day  from  Tungwa  we  reached  the 
escarpment  of  the  Zombo  plateau.  A climb  of  800  feet  brought 
us  to  the  top,  and  then  before  us  lay  the  rolling  table-land  of 


THE  CATARACT  REGION ; 1887-99 


403 


Zombo,  We  stopped  for  the  night  at  Vululu,  two  hours  from 
Makela. 

The  chief  and  people  were  kindly  disposed,  lent  us  a house, 
and  began  to  cook  food  for  us.  As  soon  as  they  learned 
that  I was  a missionary  they  said,  ‘ Then  you  will  teach  us 
about  God,  of  course.’  I told  them  that  I was  hoping  to  do 
so,  but  inwardly  wished  to  have  a little  rest  first.  The  chief 
called  the  women  and  people,  telling  them  that  I was  a mis- 
sionary, and  that  I wanted  to  teach  them.  As  a rule,  such 
an  announcement  in  a new  town  would  lead  to  grimaces  and 
shrugging  of  the  shoulders  on  the  part  of  most  of  the  women, 
and  the  disappearance  of  the  more  superstitious  men  ; so  that 
a quarter  or  an  eighth  of  the  people  in  that  part  of  the  town 
in  which  one  might  be  sitting  would  be  an  excellent  audience. 
In  this  town,  however,  at  the  mention  of  my  business,  all  but 
eight  or  ten  of  the  young  people,  who  were  busy  dancing, 
came  at  once. 

I had  feared  that  the  Zombo  dialect  would  prove  a diffi- 
culty, but  it  was  not  so.  Every  one  I met  understood  the 
Kongo  of  San  Salvador  far  better  than  the  folk  do  about 
Wathen.  As  soon  as  I began  to  speak,  the  women,  who  had 
modestly  seated  themselves  at  a little  distance,  crept  forward, 
and  came  close  to  me,  saying,  ‘ Let  us  come  nearer ; we  can 
understand  him  well ; let  us  hear  this  good  news.’  They 
listened  with  frequent  ejaculations  and  remarks,  and  with 
much  interest,  as  they  heard  for  the  first  time  of  God’s 
redeeming  love.  I have  never  found  a more  responsive 
audience. 

Next  morning,  in  about  two  hours,  I reached  Makela.  It 
is  a thick  cluster  of  towns,  spread  over  four  or  five  square 
miles.  Senhor  Escarivo,  the  Portuguese  Resident,  received 
me  kindly.  My  Portuguese  was  very  rusty,  but  it  served. 
Senhor  Escarivo  had  been  there  for  four  months,  and  was 
building  a wooden  house  on  stone  pillars,  with  coast  work- 
men. A trader  named  Campos  was  living  half  an  hour  away, 
and  had  been  there  eleven  months. 

On  Sunday  morning  I sent  the  Church  members  who  were 
with  me,  two  and  two,  into  different  parts  of  the  township  to 


404 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


preach.  Senhor  Escarivo  came  with  me.  Everywhere  we  were 
well  received.  I spoke  in  the  main  part  of  the  town.  The 
others  returned  at  mid-day,  telling  me  of  large  and  interested 
audiences,  and  that  everywhere  the  people  wished  to  give 
them  food  ; they  had  declined,  however,  fearing  unnecessarily 
my  displeasure  ; where  food  is  given  as  an  expression  of 
appreciation  and  kindly  feeling,  there  was  no  need  to  refuse. 
Such  generosity,  however,  I have  never  before  met  with 
among  heathen  people.  We  wei'e  astonished  at  the  eagerness 
of  the  people  to  listen.  Again  and  again  we  were  urged  to 
come  and  build. 

I had  heard  at  Makela  of  a town  called  Mbata,  where 
a great  cross  was  erected  ; as  it  was  not  far  off  the  way, 
I visited  it.  The  cross  had  long  ago  fallen  down,  but  the 
upright  of  it  remained  lodged  against  a tree.  It  was  of  a 
species  of  mahogany,  and  measured  32  ft.  6 in.  by  14  in.  by 
5f  in.  It  must  have  been  erected  by  a Portuguese  priest  of 
the  old  times,  to  mark  the  burial-place  of  one  of  the  Congo 
governors  of  Mbata,  and  fixes  that  town  among  the  many 
of  that  name  as  being  the  remains  of  the  old  provincial  capital. 
There  were  no  signs  of  stone  buildings.  Thence  I passed 
on  to  the  State  post  at  Ntumba-mani,  and  so  home. 

While  on  that  journey  I received  a letter  suggesting  that 
friends  at  home  should  build  a Comber  Memorial  Church  at 
Makuta.  I felt  that  the  Makuta  people  ought  to  do  that 
some  day,  but  wrote  suggesting  that,  after  what  I had  just 
seen  of  Zombo,  it  would  be  a more  worthy  thing  if  a fund 
were  raised  to  found  a Comber  Memorial  Station  in  Zombo. 
But  my  letter  could  not  be  published  then  because  of  the 
Indian  Famine,  for  which  an  appeal  was  at  that  time  being 
made.  After  that  came  the  Indian  earthquake,  which  de- 
stroyed mission  buildings,  and  these  things  combined  with 
the  financial  position  of  the  Society  to  cause  further  delay. 

When  our  people  in  the  Wathen  district  heard  of  the 
journey  to  Zombo,  they  were  much  interested  ; Ponde,  the 
evangelist  at  Makuta,  begged  us  to  let  him  go  and  start 
work  there  on  account  of  the  Wathen  Church,  until  white 
men  could  go.  We  agreed  that  he  should  go  to  spy  the 


THE  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


405 


land,  and  see  where  the  densest  population  was.  If  he  had 
gone  without  any  ostensible  purpose,  suspicions  might  be 
roused  in  the  native  mind.  We  wanted  to  buy  some  cattle, 
so  he  was  instructed  to  go  with  some  cloth  and  buy  a cow. 
He  went,  and  passed  to  the  south  of  Makela,  and  made  his 
way  to  Kibokolo  ; on  his  return  with  a very  nice  cow  he 
told  us  of  the  great  township  which  he  had  seen,  and  urged 
us  to  go  there. 

In  1897  the  matter  was  further  under  consideration,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis,  of  San  Salvador,  offered  gladly  to  under- 
take the  work  in  Zombo,  as  soon  as  the  Society  was  able 
to  commence  it.  Tumba  Station  on  the  railway  was  shortly 
to  be  given  up,  and  John  Pinnock  would  then  be  free  to 
join  them  in  Zombo.  In  June,  1898,  Lewis  received  in- 
structions from  the  Committee  to  make  an  exploration  in 
the  district  ; accordingly  he  went  with  Mrs.  Lewis  in  June 
and  July  of  that  year. 

They  made  their  way  6rst  to  Makela,  and  the  people 
begged  them  to  stay  and  build  among  them.  They  told  the 
people  that  they  wanted  to  see  all  the  country  first  ; so  after 
staying  for  a day  or  two  at  Makela,  they  passed  on  to 
Ngombe,  a township  of  3,000  people,  and  then  to  Mbuzu, 
a district  of  some  thirty-six  towns  containing  5,000  people. 

From  Mbuzu  they  passed  on  to  the  south-east  for  twelve 
miles,  to  visit  the  valley  of  the  Nkisi  river.  It  was  not  inviting, 
however,  being  swampy ; the  population,  too,  was  not  dense. 
Striking  back  to  Mbuzu,  they  passed  down  to  the  south,  to 
Kibokolo ; they  found  the  district  very  populous,  and  estimated 
the  chief  town  alone  at  5,000  people — three  times  as  large  as 
San  Salvador ; in  a radius  of  an  hour  round  there  were  at 
least  a score  of  towns  of  considerable  size. 

Lewis  wrote : ‘ Kibokolo  is  by  far  the  best  centre  for 
mission  work.  Heathenism  is  rampant,  and  never  before  have 
I seen  such  a display  of  fetishes  and  superstitious  rites.  Our 
appearance  in  the  district  caused  much  confusion,  and  the 
people  were  afraid  lest  we  should  bewitch  them,  and  cause 
them  all  to  die  right  off.  There  were  cries  of,  “ The  country 
is  dead ! the  country  is  dead  ! ” and  I have  no  doubt  but  that 


4o6 


DEVELOPMENT  IN 


they  firmly  believed  it.  However,  in  about  an  hour’s  time 
we  succeeded  in  finding  the  chief,  and  he  gave  us  a native 
house  to  sleep  in,  and  then  some  of  the  people  came  round 
us  to  shake  hands.  That  evening  the  chief  and  some  of  his 
followers  came  together,  and  I talked  to  them  about  the 
Gospel,  and  explained  our  message.  They  could  not  under- 
stand anybody  being  so  disinterested  as  to  take  all  this 
trouble  for  their  sake.  Next  day,  being  market  day,  the 
chiefs  of  the  surrounding  towns  came  and  discussed  with 
the  Kibokolo  folks  our  presence  in  their  country.  There 
was  a strong  party  in  favour  of  fighting  and  killing  us, 
carriers  and  all ; but  others  would  not  agree  to  this,  as  they 
heard  we  had  stayed  at  many  towns  on  the  way,  but  knew 
of  nothing  bad  done  by  the  white  man  or  his  carriers.  At 
last  they  agreed  to  drive  us  away  from  their  towns,  but 
no  bodily  harm  was  to  be  inflicted  upon  us.  We  found 
this  out  afterwards  ; at  the  time  we  knew  nothing  about 
the  agitation  against  us. 

‘ Early  in  the  afternoon  the  townsfolk — many  of  whom 
were  intoxicated  with  palm-wine,  and  did  not  know  exactly 
what  they  were  doing — raised  a cry  that  the  white  man’s 
boys  were  poisoning  the  water  (they  were  washing  some 
clothes  in  the  stream  which  runs  through  the  centre  of  the 
town,  and  the  soap  was  considered  poison),  and  that  a carrier 
was  seen  hiding  a charm  in  the  ground  outside  the  town  ; 
and  again  that  one  of  the  carriers  was  ill  with  small-pox  ; 
all  of  which  were  absolutely  false,  but  the  leaders  invented 
them  to  create  an  uproar  and  force  us  away.  In  an  extra- 
ordinarily short  space  of  time  the  greater  part  of  the  town 
were  around  us,  some  with  loaded  guns,  and  others  with 
cutlasses,  spears,  bows  and  arrows,  and  sticks  ; while  the 
witch-doctors  and  women  brought  out  their  fetishes,  and 
commenced  dancing  and  gesticulating  in  the  wildest  manner. 
This  was  heathenism  in  its  worst  aspects,  and  the  scene  was 
indescribable.  The  excitement  was  growing  in  intensity,  their 
attitude  became  more  threatening,  and  they  were  demanding 
our  immediate  departure.  I got  all  the  carriers  and  boys 
together,  and  got  them  to  keep  perfectly  quiet.  The  owner 


THE  CATARACT  REGION:  1SS7-99 


407 


of  the  house  which  we  occupied  was  very  friendly,  and 
he,  with  three  or  four  others,  tried  to  keep  back  the  crowd. 
We  told  them  over  and  over  that  we  would  not  go  away 
that  day,  do  what  they  would.  The  chief  sent  us  the  usual 
complimentary  present  of  two  fowls  and  a calabash  of  native 
beer — said  to  be  non-intoxicating — for  the  carriers.  This 
was  to  dismiss  us  from  the  town  “ on  friendly  terms,”  and 
he  considered  his  responsibility  at  an  end.  The  “beer,”  as 
we  suspected,  had  been  previously  “ cursed  ” by  the  witch- 
doctor, and  it  was  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  killing 
us  all  at  once,  if  we  partook  of  it.  I accepted  the  present, 
and  the  carriers  finished  the  drink  in  the  presence  of  all, 
and  they  were  greatly  astonished  to  find  that  they  did  not 
fall  down  dead  on  the  spot.  I told  the  head-men  who  brought 
the  present  that  we  did  not  mean  to  go  away  that  day,  but 
that  in  the  morning  we  would  pay  our  respects  to  the  chief 
before  leaving  their  town.  The  excitement  among  the  people, 
however,  did  not  cool  down,  for  they  kept  on  at  a furious 
rate  to  the  middle  of  the  night.  We  retired  to  bed  early, 
and  in  spite  of  the  beating  of  drums  and  the  blowing  of 
horns,  we  managed  to  get  some  sleep.  Next  morning  we 
packed  up  our  things,  and  the  same  noise  and  excitement 
continued.  They  were  evidently  surprised  at  our  showing  no 
fight.  A crowd  followed  us  about  a mile  or  two  outside 
the  town,  with  their  horns  and  drums  ; but  for  some  reason 
or  other  they  changed  their  cursing  into  blessing,  and  were 
calling  upon  the  “ spirits  ” to  protect  the  white  man  and  his 
people,  “ if  they  have  done  no  harm  in  the  town.”  So  we 
left  Kibokolo,  but  we  had  carried  out  our  plans  in  full,  except 
that  we  had  hoped  to  stay  in  this  town  a few  days  longer. 
We  thought  that  on  the  whole  it  was  the  wiser  policy  to  retire 
for  the  time  being,  and  let  the  people  have  time  to  find  out 
that  our  presence  did  them  no  real  harm.  Still,  at  Kibokolo 
there  are  two  or  three  who  gave  up  their  houses  for  ourselves 
and  carriers,  and  who  stood  by  us  all  through  the  uproar. 

‘ On  our  return  journey  a most  unusual  thing  occurred, 
which  I have  great  hopes  will  cause  them  to  change  their 
attitude  towards  us.  When  nearing  San  Salvador  we  found 


4o8  development  IN  CATARACT  REGION:  1887-^99 


that  the  whole  country  was  much  disturbed  on  account  of 
a mistaken  policy  of  the  Portuguese  Resident,  and  the  people 
of  the  Lembelw'a  and  Tanda  districts  had  closed  the  road  to 
the  coast  against  all  carriers.  We  met  some  500  Zombos 
returning  to  their  country  with  their  rubber,  having  failed  to 
pass.  A large  number  were  from  the  Kibokolo  district. 
They  were  much  afraid  of  us,  lest  we  should  retaliate  on  them 
for  the  treatment  we  had  received  in  their  country ; but 
I succeeded  in  getting  them  together,  and  persuaded  them 
to  come  along  with  me,  promising  to  pass  them  to  the  coast 
without  molestation.  It  took  some  time  to  convince  them 
of  my  good  intentions,  but  ultimately  they  agreed  to  trust 
themselves  to  me.  On  the  next  day  we  came  to  the  dis- 
turbed district,  and  I took  my  position  in  front  of  the  whole 
company.  At  the  entrance  into  each  town  we  were  met  by 
armed  men,  who  were  stopping  passers-by.  I was  well  known 
to  them  all,  and  they  made  no  resistance  when  I asked  them 
to  stand  on  one  side,  and  waited  myself  until  the  Zombos 
had  passed.  That  night  all  of  us  slept  in  one  of  the  dis- 
turbed towns,  and  I gathered  the  chiefs  together,  and  talked 
to  them  very  strongly  of  the  wickedness  and  foolishness  of 
their  behaviour,  the  head-men  of  the  Zombos  listening  to  all. 

‘ The  outcome  of  our  palaver  was  that  they  promised  to 
reopen  the  road  and  allow  carriers  to  pass  unmolested.  The 
effect  of  this  upon  the  Zombos  was  very  remarkable,  for  they 
had  looked  upon  the  white  man  as  their  enemy,  and  now 
they  saw  that  we  were  their  best  friends  after  all.’ 

Lewis  wrote  of  the  result  of  this  later  on  : — 

‘ When  these  people  returned  from  the  coast  they  related 
all  that  had  occurred,  and  the  Kibokolo  people  began  to 
think  they  had  been  foolish  in  sending  us  away  as  they  did. 
Since  then  it  seems  that  the  natives  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Kibokolo  were  troubled  by  the  capitas  from  the  Makela 
traders,  who  were  seeking  carriers.  These  men,  coming  as 
they  did  from  the  white  men,  took  many  unauthorized 
liberties,  and  did  much  mischief  in  those  towns.  It  is  chiefly 
for  this  reason  that  they  are  now  anxious  for  me  to  come 
and  build  in  their  district,  thinking  that  our  presence  there 


D d 


VOL.  II 


COMMENCING  THE  NEW  STATION  AT  KIBOKOLO,  ZOMliO 


410  DEVELOPMENT  IN  CATARACT  REGION : 1S87-99 


will  be  a protection  to  them.  Some  months  ago  the  chiefs 
of  the  district  called  all  the  people  together  to  discuss  the 
situation  and  see  what  they  could  do.  They  all  agreed  that 
the  best  thing  was  to  try  and  get  “ Lewizi  ” to  come  and 
build  there,  or  send  one  of  his  teachers  to  them.  But  then 
the  difficulty  was  that  they  had  driven  me  away  from  their 
town,  and  they  were  afraid  to  send  a messenger  to  me,  in 
case  I should  punish  him.  They  then  decided  to  send 
their  messenger  to  Mbumba,’  the  Christian  chief  of  Mputu, 
who  has  been  mentioned  as  such  a remarkable  instance  of 
conversion.  It  is  another  of  the  many  ‘ interesting  coin- 
cidences ’ of  our  work  that  Mbumba  should  be  the  head  of 
the  paramount  clan  of  Kibokolo  ; they  therefore  naturally 
turned  to  him.  Mbumba  was  ready  enough  to  help  them, 
for  it  was  the  very  thing  that  Lewis  and  he  wanted  to 
happen.  To  open  the  matter,  the  chiefs  asked  that  a mes- 
senger should  be  sent  to  them  to  fetch  some  boys  for  the 
school.  One  of  the  Christian  people  at  San  Salvador  was 
sent,  and  he  was  able  to  tell  them  that  Lewis  was  wishing  to 
build  among  them,  in  spite  of  all  that  had  happened. 

A little  later  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  started  once  more  for 
Kibokolo,  and  Mbumba  went  with  them.  His  presence  was 
most  helpful.  They  were  accorded  a favourable  reception, 
and  work  at  Kibokolo  was  definitely  commenced,  at  the  end 
of  1899.  Lewis  and  Pinnock  have  put  up  the  first  buildings, 
Mrs.  Lewis  being  also  with  them. 

An  appeal  was  made  for  £1,000  to  meet  the  expense  of 
the  new  station  which  thus  commemorates  the  Comber  family. 
A most  hearty  response  has  been  made,  and  more  than  the 
sum  required  has  been  promptly  given.  So  this  new  station 
was  started  under  the  best  of  circumstances,  the  result  of 
a remarkable  combination  of  Divine  leadings  and  preparations. 
The  population  is  dense,  and  the  welcome  has  been  of  the 
heartiest.  The  New  Testament  and  our  other  literature  are 
all  available  for  them.  It  is  surely  not  unreasonable  to  look 
forward  with  great  expectations  and  bright  hopes  to  the 
future  of  this  work. 


MAP  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


CHAPTER  VI 

OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 
‘ He  that  is  not  against  ns  is  for  us.’ — Luke  ix.  50. 

Beside  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  there  are  a number 
of  other  missions  working  on  the  Congo,  both  Protestant  and 
Roman  Catholic. 


Protestant  Missions. 

Shortly  after  the  first  visit  to  the  Congo  of  Comber  and 
Grenfell,  in  January,  1878,  another  Protestant  mission  arrived 
upon  the  scene.  Messrs.  Craven  and  Strom  came  out  to 
found  the  Livingstone  Inland  Mission,  which  was  to  be 
worked  in  connexion  with  Dr.  Guinness’s  Missionary  Training 

D d 2 


412 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


College,  London.  They  established  themselves  at  Palabala 
(Mpalabala),  seven  miles  to  the  east  of  Matadi.  Their  work 
and  stations  have  been  referred  to  from  time  to  time  in 
the  earlier  pages  of  this  book.  In  1H85  it  was  felt  that  the 
cost  of  this  mission  overtaxed  the  resources  available  ; it  was 
therefore  handed  over  to  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union. 

Their  present  stations  alternate  with  our  own  to  a little 
beyond  Lukolela.  Mukimvika  is  five  miles  from  the  sea, 
on  the  south  bank,  in  Portuguese  territory.  There  are  also 
stations  at  Matadi,  the  base  of  the  railway ; Palabala,  six 
miles  to  the  east  of  Matadi,  on  the  hills ; Manteke,  forty-five 
miles  along  the  old  transport  road  to  Stanley  Pool ; Lukungu, 
fifty  miles  further  along  the  transport  road  ; Kifwa,  thirty 
miles  to  the  east  of  Wathen,  at  kilometre  270  on  the  railway. 
This  mission  had  until  recently  a station  at  Stanley  Pool, 
of  which  Dr.  Sims  was  in  charge.  Dr.  Sims  has  rendered 
invaluable  help  to  the  missions  and  traders,  as  well  as  to  the 
State  and  French  Governments,  by  his  medical  knowledge  and 
long  experience.  He  has  alw'ays  been  ready  to  give  us  the 
advantage  of  his  skill,  and  has  been  the  means  of  saving 
the  lives  of  a great  number  of  people,  white  and  black.  His 
has  been  a remarkably  useful  life.  The  American  Baptists 
have  no  further  need  of  a station  at  Stanley  Pool,  now  that 
the  railway  is  complete ; they  have  therefore  handed  the 
station  there  to  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission,  to  serve  as  its 
base  station.  They  have  another  station  on  the  upper 
river,  at  Bwemba,  forty  miles  below  Bolobo,  and  another 
at  Ikoko,  on  Lake  Mantumba,  where  a fine  work  is  being 
done  ; also  a sub-station  at  Ilebo. 

A stern-wheel  steamer,  the  Henry  Reed,  serves  the 
A.B.M.U.  on  the  upper  river.  A very  considerable  measure 
of  success  has  crowned  the  work  of  this  mission,  especially 
so  in  the  cataract  region,  where  large  Churches  have  been 
gathered. 

When  the  Livingstone  Inland  Mission  was  handed  over  to 
the  American  Baptists,  in  1885,  there  were  some  Swedes  in 
the  service  of  the  mission.  They  took  over  the  station  at 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MISSION,  ILEBO 


414 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


Mukimbungu,  sixteen  miles  to  the  west  of  Lukungu,  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  river,  and  united  with  the  Swedish  Mis- 
sionary Society.  They  have  five  other  stations  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river  at  Diadia,  Nganda,  Kibunzi,  Muzinga,  and 
Yanga ; also  a base  station  at  Londe  Matadi,  beside  our 
own.  Their  work  is  carried  on  with  much  energy,  and  has 
made  steady  and  very  real  progress,  bringing  about  wonderful 
changes  in  their  district.  The  New  Testament  has  been 
translated  into  the  local  dialect  by  the  late  Nils  Westlind, 
and  their  excellent  press  is  turning  out  quite  a literature 
in  the  language  as  there  spoken. 

In  1886  Bishop  Taylor,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  America,  commenced  work  on  the  Congo.  He  had  founded 
missions,  and  worked  in  many  fields,  on  the  lines  of  self- 
support.  However  possible  such  a system  may  be  in  more 
civilized  lands,  where  a Christian  carpenter,  watchmaker, 
tailor,  shoemaker,  or  other  handicraftsman  may  make  a living, 
it  certainly  is  not  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  life  on  the 
Congo.  Bishop  Taylor’s  Mission  is  the  best,  or  rather  the 
worst,  example  of  the  manner  in  which  a mission  to  the  Congo 
ought  Jioi  to  be  conducted.  In  the  formation  of  his  pioneer 
party  he  seems  to  have  accepted  all  volunteers — married 
families,  and  single  men  and  women,  old  and  young.  The 
preaching  of  this  crusade  in  America  stirred  a great  enthu- 
siasm ; he  was  to  form  a chain  of  stations  across  Africa.  A 
large  party  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
more  or  less  qualified,  placed  themselves  under  the  bishop’s 
guidance.  Refusing  all  advice,  and  without  preliminary 
investigations,  he  landed  his  people  (thirty  or  forty)  on  the 
rocky  beach  at  Matadi,  ‘ trusting  in  the  Lord  ’ for  some 
temporaiy  housing.  Every  establishment  at  the  time  was 
short  of  accommodation,  and  their  stores  full  of  goods  awaiting 
transport.  The  poor  people  were  in  great  straits,  and  the 
missionaries  of  other  societies,  traders,  and  others  could  only 
find  room  for  some  of  them.  They  finally  obtained  the 
deserted  State  station  at  Vivi. 

Then  followed  a terrible  time  of  starvation,  privation,  and 
death.  A few  could  be  helped,  but  so  large  a party  were 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


415 


beyond  the  resources  of  any.  Some  had  money  with  them, 
and  could  return  at  once ; others  had  not,  and  died,  either 
among  their  own  folk,  or  on  the  stations  of  the  missions  ; 
some  of  mechanical  ability  were  able  to  find  work.  Their 
numbers  being  thus  thinned  by  death  and  desertion,  those  who 
survived,  and  remained,  could  support  themselves  by  such 
stores  as  they  had.  The  bishop  conducted  a party  to  Stanley 
Pool,  obtained  a deserted  post  of  the  State  at  Kimpoko,  and 
left  them  there.  They  cultivated  a garden,  and  supported 
themselves  by  shooting  hippopotami,  and  selling  the  flesh 
to  the  natives  at  absurdly  low  prices.  They  held  on  for 
some  years  ; some  died,  the  rest  retired  without  accomplishing 
anything,  or  even  acquiring  the  local  language. 

On  the  lower  river  they  accomplished  even  less.  They 
came  out  with  a steamer,  in  pieces,  which  was  destined  for 
the  upper  river.  It  was  to  be  conveyed  to  Stanley  Pool  in 
carts  drawn  by  a traction  engine.  There  were  no  means  at 
the  time  of  taking  the  engine  beyond  Banana,  so  it  rusted  on 
the  wharf  there  for  years,  until  the  railway  company  bought 
it  for  pumping  purposes.  With  the  engines  and  iron-work 
of  their  steamer  they  built  a light  traction  engine  at  Vivi, 
which  moved  a little  way  up  from  the  beach,  and  then  they 
saw  that  it  was  useless.  They  then  transported  half  of  the 
steamer  by  native  porters  for  fifty  miles  to  Isangila  ; then 
they  realized  that  they  could  never  afford  to  carry  so  large 
a vessel  to  Stanley  Pool,  so  they  carried  the  loads  back  again, 
and  built  the  steamer  on  the  lower  river,  to  work  as  a freight 
steamer.  As  soon  as  she  was  ready,  the  ocean  steamers  began 
to  deliver  at  Matadi,  and  her  use  was  at  an  end.  After  years, 
during  which  she  scarcely  earned  her  paint  and  oil,  she  was  sold. 

A few  people  continued  at  Vivi,  living  on  the  produce 
of  their  garden,  but  with  no  time  or  energy  for  other  work  ; 
and  one  remained  on  until  1898,  who  supported  himself  by 
selling  vegetables  at  Matadi  until  he  died.  Up  a creek  near 
Banana,  Miss  Kildare  lives  to  this  day  (1899)  in  a wooden 
shanty,  beside  a small  town  of  the  Solongo.  She  has  some 
resources  of  her  own,  and  is  the  only  one  who  has  carried  on  any 
practical  mission  work.  To  those  who  know  all  the  details, 


4i6 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


a few  of  which  have  been  only  lightly  outlined,  the  story  of 
the  mission  is  heart-rending.  The  sufferings  of  those  earnest 
people,  struggling  to  carry  out  the  misguided  theory  of  the 
bishop,  and  laying  down  their  lives  in  the  attempt,  will 
never  be  told  ; I would  never  write  a word  in  reference 
to  them  but  of  deepest  pity  and  sympathy.  They  simply 
acted  under  orders  ; the  bishop  was  seldom  with  them 
during  the  year,  and  then  only  for  a few  days  at  a time  ; the 
rest  of  his  time  was  spent  in  visiting  the  other  coast  missions 
of  his  diocese,  and  attending  Conference  in  America.  For 
the  sake  of  the  memory  of  those  who  suffered  and  died,  one 
would  be  disposed  to  be  silent  on  the  subject,  but  for  the 
fact  that  missions  are  not  infrequently  started  and  run  on 
unsound  principles,  promising  great  things  on  a minimum  of 
outlay,  drawing  away  support,  and  hampering  the  operations 
of  missions  which  are  working  on  sound  lines. 

Missions  are  not  to  be  conducted  cheaply.  The  salvation 
of  the  world  could  only  be  at  the  cost  of  the  suffering  and 
death  of  Christ ; and  the  winning  of  the  world  to  Christ  can 
only  be  accomplished  at  the  cost  of  much  treasure,  energy, 
and  life  on  the  part  of  those  who  seek  to  obey  their  Lord’s 
command.  Let  those  who  wish  to  carry  on  such  work  beware 
of  ‘ cheap  ’ methods.  I would  not  write  a syllable  against 
any  true  economy,  but  these  false  economies,  and  false  systems 
of  mission  work,  need  more  frequent  denunciation.  If  ‘ self- 
support  ’ means  that  those  who  are  able  so  to  do  maintain  them- 
selves from  private  resources,  then  self-support  is  most  com- 
mendable ; but  when  it  means  that  a missionary  to  Central 
Africa  is  to  dig,  farm,  do  plantation  work,  produce  his  own 
food  before  he  eats  it,  and  support  himself  by  his  own  personal 
energies,  and  after  that  do  his  mission  work,  the  principle 
of  self-sjipport  cannot  be  too  strongly  repudiated.  We  never 
find  the  day  long  enough  as  it  is.  What  would  be  done  if 
we  had  first  to  support  ourselves  ? 

In  1885  three  young  men  went  out  to  the  Congo,  in 
connexion  with  Mr.  Simpson’s  Tabernacle  in  New  York,  to 
establish  a Faith  Healing  Mission.  They  took  no  medicine, 
and  held  the  same  ideas  of  self-support  and  ‘ cheap  ’ mission 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


417 


work.  The  leader  died  in  a week  or  two,  one  entered  the 
service  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission,  the  other  returned. 
Mr.  Simpson  sent  out  another  mission  in  1889,  but  this  time 
in  connexion  with  a society  which  is  now  known  as  the 
Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  (American).  Some  come 
out  from  time  to  time  in  connexion  with  it,  refusing  to  take 
medicine  of  any  kind.  Fever  soon  brings  about  a change: 
they  either  ‘get  further  light  on  the  subject,’  or  die,  or  return. 
These  workers  are  established  at  Boma,  and  at  six  other 
stations  to  the  north  and  north-east  of  Boma,  within  a radius 
of  sixty  miles.  The  stations  are  at  Boma,  Ngangila,  Vungu, 
Kiama,  Mazinga,  and  Kinkonzi.  The  mission  attempted  at 
first,  and  for  a long  while,  to  work  on  ultra-economic  lines, 
but  happily  sounder  views  have  prevailed,  and  they  are  doing 
earnest  work  in  a district  which  otherwise  would  be  un- 
touched. There  is  good  reason  to  hope  for  large  success, 
when  more  of  their  missionaries  have  had  time  to  acquire  the 
language,  and  to  carry  out  the  work  on  the  present  lines. 
There  is  already  much  to  encourage  them. 

In  1889  another  mission  was  commenced  by  Mr.  J. 
McKittrick,  in  connexion  with  the  Institution  of  Dr.  Guinness 
at  Harley  House.  It  is  known  as  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission. 
Its  operations  are  at  present  confined  to  the  Lulongo  river, 
a tributary  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Congo,  fifty  miles  above 
the  Equator.  They  have  their  base  station  at  Stanley  Pool, 
and  their  first  mission  station  at  Lulanga,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Lulongo  river.  They  have  three  other  stations,  reaching 
to  a distance  of  200  miles — 300  miles  by  the  windings  of  the 
river ; they  are  situated  at  Bonginda,  Ikau,  and  Bongan- 
danga.  The  district  is  one  vast  swamp,  from  which  rise  iron- 
stone ridges,  upon  which  the  inhabitants  are  found.  Only  on 
those  ridges  can  they  be  safe  from  floods  at  high  water. 

I visited  the  stations  in  1896,  and  at  Bongandanga  saw 
300  of  those  wild  cannibal  people  gather  to  the  Sunday 
service.  I went  also  to  another  meeting,  well  attended,  an 
hour  inland.  At  that  place  a fine  ridge  rises  from  the  swamp 
100  feet  high.  The  mission  suffered  terribly  by  death  in  its 
earlier  days,  but  better  houses  are  making  it  more  possible  to 


4i8 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


have  health  in  the  district.  There  are  plenty  of  people,  and 
they  must  be  reached.  Good  earnest  work  is  being  done,  and 
those  who  were  once  wild  cannibals  have  become  gentle 
Christian  men  and  women,  who  live  as  lights  in  the  sur- 
rounding darkness.  The  mission  is  supplied  by  a stern- 
wheel  steamer,  the  Pioneer. 

In  1890  Messrs.  Lapsley  and  Sheppard  came  out  to  the 
Congo,  to  commence  work  in  connexion  with  the  Presbyterian 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Southern  States  of  America.  They 
chose  as  their  field  the  Upper  Kasai,  and  have  at  present  two 
mission  stations,  Luebo  and  Ibanj’,  as  well  as  their  base  station 
at  Stanley  Pool.  Their  staff  consists  of  seven  men,  the  ladies 
numbering  five.  Seven  of  their  number  are  coloured  people, 
of  African  origin.  Mrs.  Sheppard  was  one  of  the  Jubilee 
Singers  who  visited  England  in  1884-5.  A goodly  number 
of  the  natives  among  whom  they  work  have  been  brought  to 
Christ,  and  they  have  great  encouragement. 

In  1896  the  financial  position  of  the  American  Baptist 
Mission  caused  them  to  hand  over  their  Equator  station,  at 
Bolengi,  to  the  Christian  Disciples’  Mission  of  America.  They 
have  this  one  station,  which  we  hope  is  only  a base  for  further 
extension  work  in  the  future. 

Two  brothers  Westcott  are  carrying  on  an  independent 
mission  at  Ikongo  on  the  Sankuru  river  since  1897.  They 
belong  to  the  Plymouth  Brethren. 

The  mission  commenced  in  1881  by  Fred.  S.  Arnot  works 
in  from  Benguela.  They  have  several  stations  at  Bihe,  others 
again  in  the  Lovale  country,  and  a station  at  Kavungu,  near 
the  source  of  the  Zambesi ; these  are  in  Portuguese  territory. 
They  have  two  stations  in  the  Congo  Free  State,  one  at 
Luanza,  on  Lake  Mwero,  the  other  at  Mwena,  on  the  Lufira, 
a tributary  of  the  Upper  Lualaba,  to  the  south-west  of  Mwero. 
Arnot’s  Mission  is  also  connected  with  the  Plymouth  Brethren  ; 
their  staff  numbers  twenty-three  men  and  nine  ladies.  They 
work  along  the  ridge  of  the  southern  water-parting,  at  the 
furthest  sources  of  the  Congo  affluents,  over  a line  nearly 
1,200  miles  in  length. 

Happily,  the  Protestant  missions  have  akvays  been  able  to 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSION,  MATAUI 


420 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


work  together  in  harmony  and  brotherly  love.  The  field  is 
wide,  and  there  is  room  for  all ; any  overlapping  or  competi- 
tion would  be  most  unreasonable.  The  best  of  relations,  and 
heartiest  good  feeling,  have  been  ever  maintained,  and  mutual 
helpfulness.  The  Protestant  missionaries,  their  wives,  and  lady 
helpers,  number  about  230  on  the  field,  in  about  forty  stations. 

Missions  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

The  Church  of  Rome  is  represented  on  the  Congo  by 
seven  ‘ congregations,’  working  in  distinct  and  separate  spheres. 

The  oldest  congregation  is  that  of  the  White  Fathers  of 
Algiers,  founded  by  Cardinal  Lavigerie.  Lake  Tanganika  is 
their  field,  and  has  been  since  1879. 

The  Belgian  territory  on  the  upper  river  is  under  the 
Congregation  of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  of  Scheut- 
by-Brussels.  The  Scheut  Fathers  are  strongly  established  on 
the  Upper  Kasai,  at  Luluabourg,  and  at  Kwa  Mouth.  Their 
operations  date  from  1888. 

The  Company  of  Jesus  have  worked,  since  1893,  between  the 
Nkisi  and  Kwangu  rivers,  to  the  south  of  Stanley  Pool.  The 
Jesuit  Fathers  have  three  stations  at  present,  at  Kimwenza, 
Dembo,  and  Kisantu,  the  latter  being  thirty  miles  to  the 
east  of  Wathen  ; their  operations  extend  over  fifty  miles. 

In  1894  a company  of  Trappists  came,  and  are  settled  at 
Bamania,  on  the  Uluki. 

The  Premonstrants,  or  Norbertines,  of  Tongerloo,  came  in 
1898  to  work  on  the  Upper  Welle. 

The  sixth  congregation  works  on  French  territory,  at 
Brazzaville,  on  the  mouth  of  the  Mobangi,  and  up  that  river; 
it  is  known  as  the  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  having  its  centre  in  Paris.  This  con- 
gregation commenced  to  work  on  the  Congo  in  1880. 

The  Portuguese  priests  at  San  Salvador  are  naval  chaplains, 
and  do  not  belong  to  a congregation.  They  first  arrived 
in  1881.  The  congregations  are  all  aided  by  sisterhoods  who 
work  in  conjunction  with  them. 

The  policy  of  the  missions  of  the  Church  of  Rome  is  to 


OTHER  MISSIONS  ON  THE  CONGO 


421 


gather  to  their  stations  natives,  by  the  process  known  as  ‘ ran- 
soming.’ The  Congo  State  in  its  wars  with  the  Arab  slavers, 
and  those  which  arise  with  the  natives,  have  had  a number 
of  natives  thrown  upon  their  hands,  many  of  whom  have  been 
placed  in  charge  of  the  Romish  missions.  Surrounded  in 
this  way  by  those  over  whom  they  possess  more  or  less  of 


authority,  they  direct  their  religious  exercises,  and  seek  to 
form  chrcticntcs  about  them  to  whom  they  minister.  The  time 
that  they  have  been  established  is  scarcely  long  enough  to 
afford  much  material  upon  which  to  base  a criticism  of  their 
methods.  The  Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  and  the  Sisters 
who  help  them,  number  150  in  some  seventeen  stations. 


SEVEN  POSTAGE  STAMPS  OF  THE  CONGO  FREE  STATE  ; TWO  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE 
CONGO,  ONE  OF  WHICH  BEARS  THE  POSTMARK  OF  SAN  SALVADOR 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  STATE 

‘ Render  to  all  their  dues  : tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due  ; custom  to  whom 
custom ; fear  to  whom  fear ; honour  to  whom  honour.’ — Romans  xiii.  7. 

The  government  of  the  Congo  Free  State  centres  at 
Brussels,  but  is  quite  distinct  from  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment, with  which  at  present  it  has  no  connexion,  save  that 
His  Majesty  Leopold  II  is  both  King  of  the  Belgians  and 
Sovereign  of  the  Congo  State. 

The  foundation  of  the  State  was  notified  by  letter  to  the 
heads  of  the  trading  companies  and  the  missions  by  the 
administrator-general.  Sir  Francis  de  Winton,  on  July  i,  1886  ; 
and  on  July  19  its  constitution  under  King  Leopold  was 
solemnly  proclaimed  at  Banana.  Its  flag  is  a five-pointed 
star  in  gold  upon  a dark  blue  ground.  The  official  language 
is  French.  The  circumstances  which  called  the  State  into 
existence  have  been  noted  earlier  in  this  book. 

The  sovereign  is  absolute.  He  consults,  if  he  sees  fit,  a 
superior  council  sitting  at  Brussels,  which  may  also  sit  as 
a court  of  cassation.  The  Secretary  of  State,  Baron  von 
Eetvelde,  is  the  acting  head  of  the  Government,  and  he  is 
assisted  by  a chief  of  the  cabinet,  a treasurer-general,  and  three 
general  secretaries,  who  are  respectively  the  heads  of  the 
department  of  finance  and  the  Home  and  Foreign  Offices. 
These  officials,  serving  under  the  king,  direct  the  affairs  of  the 
State  from  Brussels. 

The  seat  of  the  local  administration  is  at  Boma ; there 
is,  however,  a talk  of  transferring  it  to  Stanley  Pool,  or 
to  some  point  in  the  cataract  region  of  high  elevation.  The 


424  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  FREE  STATE 


direction  of  affairs  is  in  the  hands  of  a governor-general. 
M.  Camille  Janssen  was  the  first  governor  appointed.  He 
was  succeeded  in  1892  by  Colonel  Wahis.  He  is  assisted 
by  vice-governors,  inspectors  of  state,  a secretary-general, 
and  several  directors,  who  act  in  his  absence.  The  State 
is  divided  into  fourteen  districts,  each  of  which  is  in  charge 
of  a district  commissioner ; two  of  these  districts,  those  of 
Stanley  Falls  and  the  Welle,  being  subdivided  into  zones. 
There  is  an  army  of  14,000  men  massed  in  various  camps. 
In  all  the  districts,  courts  of  justice  are  appointed.  The  basis 
of  the  State  laws  is  the  Code  Napoleon,  but  further  enact- 
ments are  added  to  adapt  the  law  to  the  local  circumstances. 
These  are  embodied  in  a printed  code.  There  is  a director 
of  justice  at  Boma  who  directs  all  such  matters,  and  judges 
are  appointed,  as  may  be  necessary,  to  try  cases  which  are 
not  dealt  with  in  the  territorial  court.  The  Court  of  Appeal 
sits  at  Boma,  but  it  may  sit  in  the  provinces  if  need  be. 
Certain  native  chiefs  have  been  appointed  as  magistrates  to 
settle  minor  disputes  among  the  natives  ; they  are  expected 
to  report  serious  infractions  of  the  law  to  the  district  com- 
missioner. These  local  justices  of  the  peace  ai'e  appointed 
by  the  investiture  of  a silver  medal,  which,  unless  reasons  to 
the  contrary  are  presented,  is  practically  hereditary. 

In  each  of  the  districts  there  are  offices  of  registrars,  no- 
taries, and  post.  The  principal  mission  stations,  both  Pro- 
testant and  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  have  been  appointed 
as  registry  offices,  and  the  senior  missionary  is  registrar. 
Marriages  can  therefore  be  legally  celebrated,  and  the  local 
registration  there  conducted.  Great  numbers  of  natives  have 
been  enrolled  as  legal  citizens  of  the  State,  and  have  thus 
assumed  all  civil  rights. 

The  Belgian  Treasury  grants  as  a loan  ;£^8o,ooo  annually 
to  the  administration  of  the  Congo  State  for  ten  years  from 
1890,  and  the  king  supplements  this  with  a personal  gift  of 
;£'40,ooo  annually.  The  expenses  of  the  State  have  been 
always  in  excess  of  the  receipts,  but  in  ever-lessening  ratio,  so 
that  a balance  is  hoped  for  at  an  early  date.  The  State  debt 
amounts  to  about  ;^^5,ooo,ooo,  A State  currency  has  been 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  STATE  425 


issued  to  the  extent  of  about  ;^30,ooo  in  silver  and  copper, 
and  there  is  also  an  issue  of  State  notes,  which  may  not 
exceed  ^16,000.  The  duties  levied  on  general  merchandise 
coming  into  the  State  are  6 per  cent,  ad  valorem,  with 
a reduction  for  machinery,  &c.,  and  a high  rate  for  spirits. 
They  amount  to  about  £^0,000  per  annum.  Export  duties 
are  levied  according  to  the  value  of  the  produce.  On  ivory, 
from  I to  2 francs  per  kilo. ; india-rubber,  4d.  per  kilo. ; 
coffee,  5 per  cent,  ad  valorem,  and  so  forth.  The  Congo 
Railway  does  not  belong  to  the  Government,  but  to  a limited 
company.  Taxes  are  raised  in  a variety  of  ways  in  the  State, 
on  employes,  house  area,  boats  and  steamers,  &c.  There  is 
a very  efficient  system  of  land  registration. 

The  Government  is  now  constructing  a line  of  telegraph 
from  the  Atlantic  to  Lake  Tanganika,  the  work  being  carried 
on  from  both  ends.  From  the  coast  the  line  has  been  laid, 
and  is  working,  over  more  than  750  miles.  PTom  Tanganika 
the  line  is  well  advanced  towards  Nyangwe. 

The  general  organization  of  the  government  is  very  good, 
but  its  application  to  the  natives  can  only  be  gradually 
introduced,  especially  in  such  a matter  as  slavery.  The 
territory  of  the  State  is  so  vast,  that  it  is  obviously  impossible 
to  organize  for  many  a long  day  a system  of  government 
which  shall  embrace  every  village  and  individual ; but  that 
is  the  aim  towards  which  the  authorities  are  steadily  working. 

Happily  the  relations  between  our  mission  and  the  Govern- 
ment have  been  very  cordial.  Mr.  A.  H.  Baynes,  the 
Secretary  of  our  Society,  has  always  received  the  kindest 
consideration  in  any  matters  which  have  been  arranged  with 
the  central  Government  and  have  required  his  personal 
attention  or  presence  in  Brussels.  On  several  occasions  His 
Majesty  the  King  has  received  him  very  graciously,  and  has 
expressed  his  appreciation  of  our  work.  The  high  officials 
on  the  Congo  have  also  been  very  cordial,  and  have  in  no 
way  hindered  our  work.  By  the  General  Act  of  Berlin, 
liberty  of  worship  was  guaranteed  to  all,  and  this  has  been 
faithfully  carried  out  by  the  State. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  give  any  account  of  the  develop- 

VOL.  II.  E e 


426  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  STATE 


merit  of  the  State,  the  exploration  of  its  vast  territories,  the 
brilliant  exploits  under  Baron  Dhanis,  which  resulted  in  the 
crushing  of  the  Arab  slavers,  who  were  devastating  the  eastern 
provinces  of  the  State,  or  the  splendid  energy  which  has 
explored  and  occupied  the  country  to  its  furthest  limits.  To 
tell  the  story  of  the  State  would  be  to  undertake  a task  equal 
to  that  which  has  just  been  completed  in  the  story  of  the 
mission.  The  Belgians  may  well  be  proud  of  the  part  which 
their  small  country  has  played  in  the  opening  up  of  Africa, 
and  the  development  of  the  900,000  square  miles  in  the  heart 
of  the  continent  which  is  now  known  as  the  Congo  State. 
But  while  we  recognize  the  work  which  Belgians  personally 
have  done,  we  cannot  fail  to  remember  that  the  mind  and 
energy,  the  personality  which  has  been  behind  all  and  through 
all,  has  been  King  Leopold.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  he  can 
have  seen  in  all  its  fullness  the  end  from  the  beginning,  but 
his  master  mind  has  planned  and  worked,  seized  the  oppor- 
tunities, and  led  on  the  enterprise  to  its  present  successful 
issue. 

But  while  King  Leopold  has  been  carrying  on  this  work, 
which  will  ever  be  associated  with  his  name,  Belgium,  as 
a nation,  has  been  slow  to  awake  to  the  realization  of  the 
greatness  and  worth  of  the  enterprise.  The  king  has  long 
wished  that  the  Congo  State  should  become  a Belgian 
colony,  but  a strong  party  in  the  country  has  feared  to 
undertake  the  responsibility,  expense,  and  burden  of  so  vast 
a territory.  Questions  have  risen  as  to  the  political  possibilities 
and  the  effect  of  colonial  enterprise  on  the  guaranteed  inde- 
pendence of  Belgium.  France  too  had  acquired  the  rights 
of  pre-emption,  and  there  was  fear  of  complications  in  con- 
sequence. The  Socialist  party  declared  against  the  annexation 
of  the  Congo,  and  the  Clericals  had  to  bend  with  it,  so  the 
negotiations  fell  through  for  the  time  being.  The  matter 
is  to  be  brought  up  again  in  1900,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
Belgium  will  not  allow  the  State,  which  has  been  founded 
and  developed  by  Belgian  enterprise,  to  pass  into  other  hands. 
The  rich  display  of  Congo  products  at  the  Exhibition  of 
Antwerp  in  1894,  and  again  at  Brussels  in  1897,  has  opened 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  STATE  427 


the  eyes  of  many  in  Belgium  to  the  possibilities  of  the  Congo, 
a demonstration  which  could  not  fail  to  have  its  influence 
in  instructing  public  opinion.  We  should  gladly  hail  the 
annexation  of  the  Congo  by  Belgium,  and  hope  that  it  will 
not  be  long  delayed. 

The  burning  question  of  the  drink  traflic  has  been  dealt 
with  very  effectively  by  the  Congo  State.  The  sale  of 
spirituous  liquors  to  the  natives  has  been  strictly  prohibited 
over  iV(7  of  its  wide  area.  We  have  good  means  of  knowing 
that  this  restriction  has  been  effective  ; the  missions  would 
not  fail  to  second  the  efforts  of  the  State  by  making  known 
any  contravention  of  the  laws.  The  enclave  to  the  north 
of  the  Congo  from  the  coast  to  IManyanga,  and  some  twenty 
square  miles  about  Matadi,  from  Underhill  to  the  Mpozo 
river,  are  not  within  the  zone  of  restriction.  On  the  south 
bank  the  line  of  restriction  is  drawn  at  the  Mpozo  river, 
three  miles  above  Matadi ; the  railway  cannot  therefore 
transport  it  at  all,  neither  are  the  natives  allowed  to  carry 
any  beyond  the  Mpozo  river.  We  could  wish  that  the  Govern- 
ment would  keep  out  the  liquor  entirely,  but  it  considers  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  watch  effectively  the  French  and 
Portuguese  frontiers  near  the  coast,  and  at  the  port  itself ; 
the  sale  is  therefore  permitted  over  9,000  square  miles,  although 
very' little  finds  its  way  into  more  than  half  of  that  area. 
There  is  no  restriction  to  the  sale  of  drink  to  white  men,  but 
no  absinthe  is  allowed  to  be  imported  under  any  circumstances. 
It  is  a very  great  thing  that  the  Government  takes  such  an 
enlightened  view  of  the  matter,  and  that  it  realizes  that  such 
a course  favours  its  best  and  truest  interests. 

The  freedom  granted  to  Christian  missions  and  the  firm 
stand  taken  in  the  matter  of  the  drink  wilt  be  greatly  appre- 
ciated by  all  who  seek  the  enlightenment  and  evangelization  of 
Africa. 

This  story  of  pioneer  mission  work  on  the  Congo  must 
conclude  here.  However  much  it  has  lacked  in  the  telling, 
it  speaks  for  itself.  It  tells  of  the  overcoming  and  removal 
of  great  difficulties,  and  of  a number  of  those  singular  leadings 

E e 2 


428  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONGO  STATE 


and  ‘ interesting  coincidences  ’ in  which  we  thankfully  recognize 
the  providential  working  of  the  hand  of  God.  For  all  that 
has  been  accomplished — 

‘ Not  unto  us,  O Lord,  not  unto  us, 

But  unto  Thy  Name  give  glory.’ 

Our  blessed  Lord  gave  the  command — 

‘ All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  Name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  : teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 
soever I commanded  you  : and  lo,  I am  with  you  ahvay,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world.’ 

We  have  gone  to  the  Congo,  and  we  bear  witness  that  as  He 
promised  so  it  has  been.  His  presence  has  been  with  us ; 
His  power  has  been  seen  in  the  enlightenment  of  dark  hearts; 
to  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  the  right  to 
become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His 
Name. 

With  the  encouragement  of  the  past,  and  the  assurance  of 
the  continual  presence  of  the  Master,  we  go  forward  in  doing 
our  share  in  the  winning  of 

Africa  for  Christ. 


] 


A CONGO  UASKET 


APPENDIX  I 


CONGO  MISSIONARIES 


Name. 

Date  of 
arrival 
in 

Congo. 

Present 
Station,  1900. 

Remarks. 

Date. 

I.  Comber,  T.  J. 

1879 

i At  Cameroons 

1875 

( Died  at  sea 

June  27,  1887 

2.  Crndgington,  H.  E. 

1879 

Transferred  to  India 

1885 

3.  Hartland,  J.  S. 

1879 

Died  at  Bayneston 

May  12,  1883 

4.  Bentley,  W.  Holman 

1879 

Wathen 

5.  Grenfell,  G. 

1880 

Bolobo 

At  Cameroons 

1874 

6.  Dixon,  H. 

1881 

Tiansferred  to  China 

1884 

7.  Weeks,  J.  H. 

1881 

Monsembe 

8.  Butcher,  H.  W. 

1882 

1 Died  at  Manyanga 

Oct.  15,  1883 

9.  Hughes,  W. 

1882 

Resigned 

1885 

10.  Moolenaar,  H.  K. 

1882 

Returned 

1890 

11.  Doke,  W.  H. 

1883 

Died  at  Underhill 

Feb.  7,  1883 

1 2.  Ross,  W. 

1883 

Resigned 

1884 

13.  Comber,  S.,  m.b. 

1883 

Died  at  Wathen 

Dec.  24,  1884 

14.  Whitley,  H.  G. 

1883 

Died  at  Lukunga 

Aug.  3,  1887 

15.  Hartley,  J.  W. 

1884 

Died  at  Manyanga 

Feb.  28,  1884 

16.  Cniickshank,  A.  H. 

1884 

Died  at  Wathen 

Mar.  27,  1885 

17.  Darling,  F.  C. 

1884 

Died  at  Underhill 

Mar.  19,  1887 

18.  Cameron,  G.  R.  R. 

1884 

Wathen 

19.  Macmillan,  D. 

1884 

Died  at  Underhill 

Mar.  9,  1885 

20.  Cowe,  A. 

1885 

Died  at  S.  Salvador 

May  21,  188?; 

21.  Charters,  D. 

1885 

Returned 

1887 

22.  Cottingham,  W.  F. 

1885 

Died  at  Underhill 

June  8,  1885 

23-  Biggs,  J.  E. 

1885 

Died  at  Arthington 

Aug.  26,  1887 

24.  Comber,  P.  E, 

1885 

Died  at  Wathen 

Jan.  23,  1892 

25.  Davies,  P.,  b.a. 

1885 

Died  at  Wathen 

Dec.  4,  1895 

26.  Maynard,  J. 

1885 

Died  at  Underhill 

Jan.  28,  1S86 

27.  Richards,  M. 

1885 

Died  at  Banana 

Aug.  10,  i888 

28.  Silvey,  S. 

1886 

i At  Cameroons  | 

18S3 

( Died  at  sea  [ 

-\pril  23,  1889 

29.  Scrivener,  A.  E. 

1886 

Bolobo 

1 

30.  Seright,  W.,  m.b. 

1886 

Resigned  | 

1886 

31.  Darby,  R.  D. 

1886 

Returned  | 

1894 

32.  Graham,  R.  H.  C. 

1886 

S.  Salvador 

1 

33.  Phillips,  H.  R. 

1886 

S.  Salvador 

43^ 


CONGO  MISSIONARIES 


Name. 

Date  of 
arrival 
in 

Congo. 

Present 
Station,  1900. 

Remarks. 

Date. 

34.  Shindler,  J.  H. 

1 886 

Died  at  Underhill 

Mar.  19,  1887 

35.  Lewis,  T. 

1887 

Zombo 

To  Cameroons 

1883 

36.  Brown,  J.  G. 

CO 

00 

Died  at  sea 

Dec.  27,  1889 

37.  Harrison,  F.  G. 

1887 

Resigned 

1895 

38.  Pinnock,  J. 

1887 

Zombo 

39.  Slade,  A.  D. 

1888 

Died  at  Wathen 

Dec.  20,  1888 

40.  Oram,  F.  R. 

1888 

Died  at  Bopoto 

Feb.  17,  1894 

41.  Clark,  J. 

1889 

Bolobo 

42.  Roger,  J.  L. 

I8S9 

Arthington 

43.  Forfeitt,  W.  L. 

1889 

Bopoto 

44.  White,  W.  H. 

1889 

Died  at  sea 

July  4,  1897 

45.  Forfeitt,  J.  L. 

1889 

Matadi 

46.  Glennie,  R. 

1889 

Returned 

1896 

47.  Wilkinson,  W.  F. 

1889 

Died  at  S.  Salvador 

Dec.  29,  1889 

48.  Stapleton,  W.  H. 

1890 

Yakusu 

49.  Gordon,  S.  C. 

1890 

Arthington 

50.  Fuller,  J.  A.  A. 

1890 

Resigned 

1895 

51.  Whitehead,  J. 

1890 

Lukolela 

52.  Balfern,  W.  P. 

1891 

Died  at  Madeira 

Feb.  19,  1894 

53.  Hughes,  E. 

1892 

Resigned 

1894 

54.  Tefferd,  F.  A. 

1892 

Resigned 

1894 

55.  Brown,  G.  D. 

1892 

Resigned 

1896 

56.  Webb,  S.  R.,  m.d. 

1893 

Died  at  sea 

April  12,  1893 

57.  Pople,  G.  R. 

1893 

Died  at  Tumba 

April  12,  1897 

58.  Kirkland,  R.  H. 

1893 

Bopoto 

59.  Stonelake,  H.  J. 

1894 

Monsembe 

( From  Bishop  Tay- 

1890 

60.  Field,  S.  M. 

1894 

1 lor's  Mission 

( Resigned 

1898 

61.  Stephens,  J.  R.  M. 

1895 

Wathen 

62.  Bell,  J.,  A.T.s. 

1895 

Wathen 

63.  Smith,  Kenred 

1896 

Bopoto 

64.  Dodds,  C.  J. 

1896 

Monsembe 

65.  Beedham,  R. 

1896 

Underhill 

66.  Howell,;. 

1896 

Bolobo 

From  the  Congo  Ba- 

lolo  Mission 

67.  Wherrett,  A.  E. 

1896 

Died  at  Yakusu 

Nov.  21,  1896 

68.  Frame,  W.  B. 

1896 

Wathen 

69.  Millman,  W. 

1897 

Y akusu 

70.  Jeffery,  J. 

1897 

Bopoto 

71.  Adams,  A.  G. 

1897 

Bolobo 

72.  Smith,  H.  Sutton 

1899 

Yakusu 

73.  Bowskill,  S.  J. 

1899 

S.  Salvador 

74.  Wooding,  W. 

1899 

S.  Salvador 

From  the  Congo  Ba- 

lolo  Mission 

75.  Stonelake,  A. 

1900 

Bolobo 

Died,  28.  Returned,  15.  Present  Staff,  32. 


CONGO  MISSIONARIES 


431 


LADIES 


Name. 

Date  of 
arrival 
in 

Congo. 

Present 
Station,  1900. 

Remarks. 

Date. 

I.  Comber,  Mrs.  T.  J. 

1879 

Died  at  S.  Salvador 

Aug.  24,  1879 

2.  Grenfell,  Mrs. 

1880 

Bolobo 

Crudgington,  Mrs. 

1883 

Transferred  to  India 

1885 

4.  Weeks,  Mrs. 

1886 

Monsembe 

( ToCongoin  conne.K- 

1882 

5.  Spearing,  Martha  S. 

1886 

< ion  with  L.I.M. 

( Died  at  Arthington 

April  3,  1887 

6.  Bentley,  Mrs. 

1886 

Wathen 

7.  Darling,  Mrs. 

1886 

Returned  a widow 

1887 

8.  Moolenaar,  Mrs. 

1887 

Returned 

1890 

9.  Lewis,  Mrs. 

1887 

S.  Salvador 

At  Cameroons 

1884 

10.  Pinnock,  Mrs. 

1887 

Died  at  Eastbourne 

Sept.  29,  1895 

II . Phillips,  Mrs. 

1888 

Died  at  S.  Salvador 

April  26,  i8qo 

12.  Brown,  Mrs. 

1888 

Returned  a widow 

1889 

(Miss  Butcher) 

13.  Cameron,  Mrs. 

1888 

Died  at  Wathen 

Mar.  8,  i8q^ 

(Miss  Silvey) 

14.  Graham,  Mrs. 

1889 

S.  Salvador 

1 5.  Harrison,  Mrs. 

1890 

Returned 

1895 

16.  Comber,  Mrs.  Percy 

1890 

Died  at  Banana 

Dec.  19,  1890 

17.  Darby,  Mrs. 

1891 

Returned 

1894 

1 8.  Webb,  Mrs. 

1893 

Returned  a widow 

1895 

19.  Roger,  Mrs. 

1893 

Arthington 

20.  Glennie,  Mrs. 

1893 

Returned 

1896 

21.  Stapleton,  Mrs. 

1893 

Y akusu 

22.  Whitehead,  Mrs. 

1893 

Lukolela 

23.  Forfeitt,  Mrs.  W.  L. 

1893 

Bopoto 

24.  Forfeitt,  Mrs.  J.  L. 

1894 

Matadi 

25.  Scrivener,  Mrs. 

1895 

Died  at  Bolobo 

■ Mar.  15,  1898 

26.  de  Hailes,  Lily  M. 

1895 

Bolobo 

After  being  six  years 

in  connexion  with 

the  Congo  Balolo 

Mission 

27.  Gordon,  Mrs. 

1896 

Arthington 

28.  Pople,  Mrs. 

1896 

Died  at  Tumba 

May  29,  1897 

29.  Howell,  Mrs. 

1896 

Bolobo 

30.  Bell,  Mrs. 

1896 

Wathen 

( Miss  Feisser) 

31.  White,  Mrs. 

1896 

Returned  a widow 

1897 

32.  Clark,  Mrs. 

1896 

Bolobo 

33.  Kirkland,  Mrs. 

1897 

Bopoto 

34.  Stephens,  Mrs. 

1898 

Wathen 

35.  Brindal,  Lucy  A. 

1898 

Wathen 

1 

432 


CONGO  MISSIONARIES 


Name. 

Date  of 
arrival 
in 

Congo. 

Present 
Station,  1900. 

Remarks. 

Date. 

36.  Dodds,  Mrs. 

1898 

Monsembe 

37.  Beedham,  Mrs. 

1899 

Underhill 

38.  Wooding,  Mrs. 

1899 

S.  Salvador 

39.  Smith,  Mrs.  Kenred 

1900 

Bopoto 

40.  Stonelake,  Mrs.  A. 

1900 

Bolobo 

Died,  8.  Returned,  9.  Remain,  23. 


STATIONS  OF  THE  BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 
ON  THE  CONGO 

Distance 
Founded.  traversed 
from  Coast. 


Underhill,  Matadi 

1883 

100 

San  Salvador 

1879 

170 

Comber  Memorial  Station,  Zombo 

1899 

260 

Wathen,  Lutete 

1884 

260 

Arthington,  Stanley  Pool 

1883 

350 

Bolobo 

1888 

530 

Lukolela 

1886 

630 

Monsembe 

1890 

830 

Bopoto,  or  Upoto 

1890 

1030 

.Sargent  Station,  Yakusu,  Stanley  Falls 

1896 

1350 

Steamers. 

Launched. 

Length. 

Beam. 

Draft. 

ft. 

ft.  in. 

in. 

Peace 

1884 

70 

10  6 

18  (with  6 tons) 

Goodwill 

1S94 

84 

13  0 

26  (with  13  tons 

APPENDIX  II 


THE  LORD’S  PRAYER  IN  EIGHT  OF  THE  KONGO 
LANGUAGES  AND  DIALECTS. 


[c  = /s  i) 

I.  Kongo. 

{Spoken  from  the  Coast  to  Stanley  Pooll] 

E S’eto  oko  ’zuln, 

Yambul’  ezina  diakn  diazitiswanga, 

E kimfumu  kiaku  kiza, 

O Inzolo  luaku  luavangwanga, 
ova  nsi,  ne  i koko  ’zulu. 

O dia  kweto  kwa  liimbu  ya  lumbu, 
utuvana  ko  unu. 

Utulolok’  o masiimu  meto, 

nze  yeto  tiilolokang’  atantu  eto. 
Kutufidi  ko  muna  umpukumuni. 
Utuvuluza  muna  mbi. 

Kadi  ekiaku,  e kimfumu,  ye  ngolo  yo 
nkembo 

wa  mvu  ya  mvu.  Amen. 

II.  WOYO. 

{Spoken  in  A^vyo  {Kabindd)  on  the  north 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  a dialect 
of  Kongol\ 

Tat’  itu  ki  yulu, 

Bika  lizina  Baku  liazitiswanga, 

Cifumu  ciaku  ciza 

Zolo  kwaku  kwivangwanga  iva  si  i kuni 
yulu. 

Bilia  bitu  bia  lumbu  ya  lumbu  utuvan- 
dika  lumbu  aci 

Utubikamasumu  mitu,b\vabu  lubikanga 
mbeni  zitu. 

Kutubli  ko  muna  lau. 

Utuvulula  muna  mbi. 

Cifumu  ciaku,  ngolo  ziaku,  minga 
kwaku, 

Kwa  mvu  ya  mvu.  Amen. 


itself 

III.  Ewumu. 

{An  unreduced  language  spoken  on  the 
hills  S.IV.  of  Stanley  Pool.~\ 

Tat’  abeti  ku  yulu, 

Yegese  nkum’  anze  yazitisuu, 

Emfumu  anze  kiaya, 

Ozolo  anze  layilemuu  ya  nci,  ne  kuna 
yulu. 

Odi’  abeti  ku  macu-macu,  uluwa  ko  leri. 
Ululolo  masumu  mabeti,  te  bu  lusi 
loloo  batanta  babeti. 

Kulufili  o mu  vukumu, 

Kanti,  uluvulusu  mu  obi, 

Okala  emfumu  anze,  ani  mpini  anze, 
ani  bubwe  bwanze 
ku  mivu-mivu.  Amen. 

IV.  Lo-bobangi. 

{Spoken  fi-om  the  Kwa  mouth  nearly 
to  the  Equator.~\ 

Sango  e biso  eng’  o likolo, 

Tika  lina  li  Yo  lisonibwa; 

Tika  bokonzi  bo  Yo  boya  ; 

Tika  mokano  mo  Yo  mokelibw’  o nee, 
lolimo  ete  nde  o likolo. 
Olokabelaka  lelo  boli  bokoyengebene 
na  biso. 

Olosabinyaka  mimbale  minga  na  biso, 
lolimo  et’  e sosabinya  biso  bango 
banga  na’  mibale  mi  biso. 
T’olowelisake  o bolengoli. 

Nde  oloyelolak’  ombe  mobe. 

Novvel’  onga  na  bokonzi,  mpe  na  nguya, 
mpe  na  mankembo 
lobiko  na  lobiko.  Se  bongo. 


434  LORD'S  PRAYER  IN  KONGO  LANGUAGES 


V.  Mpama. 

[Spoken  in  the  interior  behind  Luko/e/a.] 

Sango  abang’  e li  ikolo, 

Le  dina  izaka  isonibwe  ; 

Le  bokondi  bo  laka  boye  ; 

Le  ukano  umvvaka  imikelibwe  o nee 
buma  boza  ikolo. 

Okabele  loye  ekaba  elongobane  na 
banga. 

Osabolake  imbale  ili  na  banga,  buma 
boza  banga  toisabole  bo  bali  na 
imbale  i banga. 

Tokwelisake  banga  oma  ulengoli. 

Nde  yelolaka  banga  oma  labe. 

Na  mbeki  o li  na  bokondi,  na  nguya,  n’ 
ankembo  obiko  na  obiko. 

Noa  bona. 

VI.  Lunkundu. 

[Spoken  at  the  Equator.'] 

Fafa  ikiso  ole  nd’  iola, 

Cika  jina  jike  jimemiame ; 

Cika  jikulaka  jike  joya  ; 

Cika  lolango  loke  loejami  nd’  okije 
ngole  nd’  iola. 

Otoka  losvve  toma  tokiso  coa  bekolo  le 
kolo. 

Otobikia  bekwa  bekiso,  ngol’  iso  tobikia 
banko  bando  kwa  jikambu  liso. 

Otobela  ke  nda  jisongodza. 

Lolo,  ocikola  Jim’  obe. 

Eloko  jikulaka  jile  jike,  la  nguya  eke, 
I’iongi  ike  bideko  la  deko. 
Ngbko. 


VII.  Djobo. 

[Spoken  by  people  of  the  interior  behind 
Lulanga.] 

Tata  vvaboso  ado  diko, 

Kina  kombe  we  ede  na  ememi ; 

Kina  bokuma  bawe  edoe  ; 

Kina  eka  epalaka  we  onami  o mokwotu, 
eleng’  emoti  ekwa  busa. 

Lo  paso  miamau  mapala  ’so  busabu. 

Lo  heligaso  nanongo  na  batu  ba  buki. 
Po  lo  mak’  iso  ademba,  lo  heligaso  ego 
Ogwe  bokuma  na  ngulu,  no  bopipo,  bo 
di  nau  bianga  na  bianga. 

Oko  bi. 


VIII.  Boloki. 

[Spoken  at  Monsembe.] 

Ango  wabiu  y’  alo  bolobo, 

Nkumbu  yao  obangia, 

Bilombi  biao  biya, 

Lobetwa  lao  lokela  o nse,  bo  langu 
lokelama  o bolobo. 

Otupa  bill  bieka  lelo  na  lelo. 

Otulemele  nyungu  yabiu,  bo  tulemele 
bangu  baengeli  nyungu  na  bin. 
Walotukambaka  o molenja. 

Otubikia  na  bobi. 


(Doxology  absent.) 


APPENDIX  III 


MALARIAL  FEVER,  ITS  GENESIS  AND  EFFECTS 

The  fever  which  has  proved  so  destructive  to  life  on  the  Congo 
is  that  generally  known  as  ‘ malarial  fever.’  It  is  identical  with  the 
fever  prevalent  in  Holland,  Rome,  the  Levant,  the  United  States,  and 
the  tropics  generally. 

For  some  time  it  has  been  known  that  it  was  due  to  minute 
parasites  which  invade  the  red  corpuscles  of  the  blood,  and  eventually 
absorb  and  destroy  them.  When  to  much  was  known  as  to  the 
cause  of  the  fever,  the  question  was  raised  as  to  how  the  parasites 
find  an  entry  into  the  system.  Dr.  Patrick  IManson,  reasoning  from 
the  fact  that  some  suctorial  insects  conveyed  disease,  suggested  that 
the  mosquito  was  the  means  by  which  the  ‘ malarial  ’ parasites  were 
introduced  into  the  human  body.  Recent  discoveries  of  Bignami, 
Ross,  and  others  have  proved  this  theory  to  be  correct.  They  have 
demonstrated  the  presence  of  the  parasites  in  the  blood  sucked  by 
the  mosquito  from  the  human  body;  and  by  their  researches  they 
have  been  able  to  trace  the  life-history  of  the  parasite  in  the  mosquito, 
until  its  introduction  into  its  human  host. 

It  is  found  that  in  the  body  of  the  mosquito  the  parasite  undergoes 
sexual  development,  and  there  completes  its  cycle.  From  the  fertilized 
plasmodia  (zygotes)  when  mature  proceed  thread-like  blasts,  the  para- 
sites in  their  new  form,  which  find  their  way  to  the  salivary  glands 
of  the  mosquito  host,  where  they  lie  ready  to  be  inserted  with  the 
proboscis  into  another,  this  time  human,  host. 

Three  kinds  of  parasite  are  at  present  known,  whose  life-histories 
are  above  indicated.  They  give  rise  to  fevers  of  three  types — tertian, 
quartan,  and  the  aestivo-autumnal  fevers. 

There  are  parasites  which  are  closely  allied  to  those  above  men- 
tioned, which  find  their  habitat  in  the  blood  of  birds ; they  complete 
their  cycle  in  the  Ciilex  Mosquito,  but  do  not  affect  human  beings. 
The  parasites  which  affect  humanity  only  develop  in  the  mosquito 


436  MALARIAL  FEVER,  ITS  GENESIS  AND  EFFECTS 


of  the  genus  Anopheles,  and  this  genus  is  therefore  responsible  for 
all  our  true  malarial  fevers.  The  appearance  and  habits  of  the 
Anopheles  are  distinct  from  those  of  the  other  mosquitoes.  They 
breed  in  standing  pools  and  puddles  which  are  not  scoured  by  rain, 
not  in  swamps  or  marshes,  or  pools  in  which  fish  are  found. 

New  blasts  introduced  into  a human  body  by  a mosquito  attack 
the  red  corpuscles  of  the  blood.  The  blasts  develop,  absorbing  the 
substance  of  the  corpuscle.  The  haemoglobin  (the  colouring  matter 
of  the  blood)  remains  in  the  parasite,  not  excreted,  in  the  form 
of  little  black  spots  of  vielanin,  as  seen  under  the  microscope.  It 
is  believed  that  it  has  undergone  some  change,  acquiring  the  toxic 
properties  which  cause  the  access  of  fever  when  the  sporulation  sets 
it  free  in  the  blood.  In  ordinary  mild  fevers  it  is  probably  taken 
up  by  the  liver  to  a large  extent,  and  changed  into  bile  pigment. 
On  attaining  to  maturity  some  parasites  break  up  into  spores,  which, 
with  the  haemoglobin  thus  changed,  drift  in  the  blood.  The  spores 
attack  more  red  corpuscles,  and  once  more  develop,  to  the  destruction 
of  the  corpuscles  and  their  own  maturity;  then  there  is  further 
sporulation,  and  a repetition  of  the  process.  This  cannot  go  on 
indefinitely.  They  may  work  such  mischief,  by  reason  of  their  energy, 
numbers,  &c.,  that  they  kill  their  host,  and  so  themselves ; but  if  this 
does  not  happen,  they  ‘ spend  ’ themselves,  and  become  sterile. 
Some  resting-spores  find  hiding-places,  and  may  develop  another 
series  under  favourable  circumstances  later  on ; but  if  the  life  of  the 
host  is  spared,  the  mass  of  the  parasites  sterilize  and  die  out.  If, 
however,  a mosquito  appears,  and  sucks  a little  of  the  blood  laden 
with  parasites,  they  develop  and  propagate  in  the  mosquito,  to  be 
eventually  returned  to  some  other  host,  with  all  the  energy  of  those 
produced  by  the  sexual  process. 

The  access  of  fever  is  coincident  with  the  sporulation  of  the  mature 
plasmodium.  As  soon  as  this  occurs,  the  temperature  rises  (or,  in 
some  cases  perhaps,  falls  below  normal).  The  difference  of  tem- 
perature between  the  internal  organs  (where  the  change  first  obtains) 
and  the  skin  constitutes  what  is  known  as  the  ‘ cold  stage  ’ of  ague. 
The  patient  feels  terribly  cold,  when  a touch  may  show  that  he 
is  already  abnormally  warm.  The  sense  of  chill  passes  away,  and 
a dry  hot  stage  sets  in,  often  attended  with  much  discomfort,  vomiting, 
pains  in  the  back  and  limbs,  and  great  constitutional  disturbance. 
If  things  run  a normal  course,  a profuse  perspiration  follows,  and  the 
temperature  slowly  drops  to  normal.  In  aestivo-autumnal  fevers,  in 


MALARIAL  FEVER,  ITS  GENESIS  AND  EFFECTS  437 


about  twenty-four  hours  after  the  first  access,  a fresh  sporulation  and 
consequent  fever  may  be  expected  to  occur,  and  so  the  mischief 
works  round  and  round  in  its  cycles.  The  stages  of  the  fever  may 
be  prolonged  and  intensified,  and  a variety  of  complications  are 
possible.  Although  a most  uncomfortable  experience,  most  of  our 
fevers  are  comparatively  simple,  and  consist  of  only  one  or  two 
paroxysms ; with  some  they  are  exceedingly  rare,  years  passing 
between  very  mild  attacks;  this  has  been  the  case  with  myself. 

Repeated  attacks  of  fever  reduce  very  materially  the  number  of  the 
red  corpuscles  in  the  blood,  and  in  this  way  produce  the  condition 
known  as  anaemia.  In  severe  fevers  of  the  aestivo-autumnal  type 
there  may  be  a destruction  of  one -third  of  the  corpuscles  in  the  body 
in  one  paroxysm,  the  haemoglobin  set  free  causing  such  activity 
of  the  liver  that  an  excess  of  bile  is  formed,  and  there  results  what 
is  known  as  bilious  remittent  fever.  Apart  from  the  destruction  of 
the  corpuscles,  it  is  believed  that  the  toxin  evolved  by  the  changes 
in  the  haemoglobin,  if  not  speedily  excreted  by  the  skin  and  the 
usual  channels,  may  produce  a general  debilitation  of  the  blood 
by  reason  of  its  empoisonment.  In  this  condition  the  corpuscles 
appear  to  be,  many  of  them,  in  a state  of  dissolution  or  resolution, 
irregular  in  shape,  and  to  have  lost  their  haemoglobin,  which  drifts 
in  a free  state  in  the  blood.  This  is  a serious  condition,  which 
is  very  liable  to  disaster.  A small  derangement  will  cause  these 
weakened  corpuscles  to  break  down  to  such  an  extent  that  a con- 
dition of  intense  exhaustion  results.  The  free  haemoglobin  over- 
stimulates the  liver,  which  produces  an  excess  of  bile  and  causes 
most  distressing  vomiting.  The  kidneys  throw  off  a fluid  of  the 
appearance  of  porter,  and  the  condition  is  most  serious.  This  is 
what  has  frequently  been  referred  to  as  the  haemoglobinuric  fever, 
which  has  been  so  fatal.  The  onset  of  the  dissolution  of  the  blood 
in  this  condition  is  often  very  sudden ; one  case  I myself  carefully 
noted  in  which  the  change  took  place,  and  the  intense  colour  appeared, 
in  twenty  minutes.  Happily,  this  type  of  fever  has  not  been  frequent 
of  late  years.  Improved  conditions  of  life  have  prevented  our  men 
from  falling  into  the  condition  upon  which  it  depends. 

The  resting-spores  of  the  ‘malarial’  parasite  constitute  a danger 
to  those  who  have  at  any  time  been  contaminated  by  an  infected 
Anopheles  mosquito ; for  so  long  as  they  remain  resting  they  seem 
to  be  unassailable  by  poisons.  Any  derangement  of  the  system — chill, 
indigestion,  exhaustion,  exposure  to  the  sun,  mental  excitement.  See. — 


438  MALARIAL  FEVER,  ITS  CjENESIS  AND  EFFECTS 


may  start  these  ‘ resting  ’-spores  on  an  active  cycle,  and  set  up  the 
condition  of  fever.  An  instance  of  this  occurred  in  my  own  case. 
On  my  return  to  England  after  my  first  five  years  in  Africa,  I was 
urging  the  Committee  of  our  Society  to  the  definite  and  energetic 
policy  on  the  upper  river  which  they  afterwards  carried  out.  Although 
I had  had  no  fever  at  all  during  the  latter  half  of  the  five  years 
in  Africa,  two  protracted  anxious  committee  meetings  each  caused  in 
me  sharp  attacks  of  fever  by  the  evening.  One  is  liable  to  such 
attacks,  even  thirty  years  after  exposure  to  ‘ malaria.’ 

It  follows  from  the  preceding  that  the  best  thing  for  dwellers 
in  the  tropics  is  to  destroy,  or  avoid  the  Anopheles  mosquito.  The 
drainage  of  their  breeding-places  should  be  undertaken,  and  where 
that  is  not  possible,  a small  quantity  of  paraffin,  stirred  on  the  water 
of  a pool,  will  form  a film  of  oil  which  will  prevent  the  larvae  from 
breathing,  and  speedily  destroy  them.  It  is  said  that  a small  quantity 
of  permanganate  of  potash  will  also  suffice  to  poison  them.  A good 
mosquito  net  affords  immunity  during  the  hours  of  sleep.  Some 
people  are  specially  attractive  to  the  mosquito.  I have  been  sitting  at 
table  with  Thomas  Comber  when  he  has  been  cruelly  tormented 
by  mosquitoes,  while  I have  been  scarcely  touched  by  them. 

It  is  impossible  to  remain  always  immune,  so  that  after  all  has  been 
done  in  the  way  of  avoidance  of  the  mosquito,  quinine  is  our  best 
helper.  A dose  of  this  drug  works  its  way  into  the  blood,  and 
is  certain  death  to  any  active  spores  of  the  parasite  which  may  be 
free  in  the  blood.  A daily  dose  of  five  grains  should  do  no  harm 
to  those  making  use  of  it,  while  it  would  maintain  such  a condition 
of  the  blood,  that  if  any  of  the  plasmodia  sporulate,  the  spores  will 
be  at  once  destroyed.  During  an  attack  of  fever  the  endeavour 
is  made  to  cinchonise  the  blood  for  the  next  sporulation.  When  once 
the  plasmodium  has  taken  possession  of  a corpuscle,  it  is  safe  from 
quinine. 

There  are  other  insects  which  have  been  known  to  induce  fevers 
of  the  ‘ malarial  ’ type.  The  tsetse-fly  is  well  known  as  the  host 
of  a parasite  which  is  very  destructive  to  cattle  in  Africa.  In  the 
Campagna  of  Rome  a fever  most  destructive  to  cattle  has  been  traced 
to  a tick  in  the  grass.  On  the  Congo,  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
time  when  the  natives  were  serving  in  the  transport  from  the  lower 
river  to  Stanley  Pool,  before  the  completion  of  the  railway,  a most 
malignant  fever  attacked  only  those  who  travelled  on  the  transport 
routes,  and  which  baffled  all  as  to  its  cause.  I noted  the  presence,  in 


MALARIAL  FEVER,  ITS  GENESIS  AND  EFFECTS  439 


the  sleeping-places  of  the  carriers,  of  a tick  which  had  long  been 
know’n  to  exist  in  the  grass,  but  was  never  a pest  in  the  native  houses, 
nor  was  specially  troublesome  in  its  bite.  These  ticks  were  swarming 
where  the  carriers  slept ; their  bite  raised  an  itching  lump  which 
would  be  visible  for  ten  days.  My  own  opinion  is  that  these  ticks 
were  the  cause  of  that  very  fatal  fever.  We  may  yet  learn  unpleasant 
things  about  the  vermin  which  infest  the  natives,  and  are  regarded  by 
them  with  such  indifference. 

The  natives  suffer  much  from  fever  as  well  as  Europeans.  My 
own  health  in  Africa  has  been  far  belter  than  that  of  any  natives 
whom  I have  known  intmiately. 


CONGO  FETISHES 


INDEX 


A 

Acacias,  i.  71. 

Accra,  i.  97. 

Adders,  i.  393 

Adjutant  stork,  an,  ii.  34. 

Affonso,  Dom,  a chief,  i.  77  ; 

visit  to,  i.  198. 

Akongo,  a demon,  i.  280. 

Aku,  story  of,  ii.  184;  marriage 
of,  ii.  189. 

Albinos,  African,  i.  200. 
Algerian  Fathers,  work  of,  ii. 
34,  420. 

Alliterative  Concord , the,  i.  2 3 1 . 
Alphonso,  King  of  Congo, 
story  of,  i.  26  sq. 
Ambaquistas,  the,  i.  170. 
Ambriz  river,  i.  194. 

American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union,  ii.  412. 

Ancestral  worship,  i.  251. 
Angola,  conduct  of  Romish 
priests  in,  i.  35. 

Antonio,  cowardice  of,  i.  384. 
Arab  raiders,  ii.  loi ; at  Rome, 
ii.  280. 

Amot,  F.,  mission  of,  ii.  418. 
Arthington,  Mr.  R.,  liberal 
proposal  of,  i.  57  sq. ; further 
offers  of,  i.  190 ; ii.  77. 
Arthington  Falls,  i.  169;  visit 
to,  i.  194. 

Arthington  Station,  building  of, 
ii.  14;  story  of,  ii.  225; 
brick-making  at,  ii.  227. 
Asango,  a native  demon,  i. 
280. 

Augouard,  Fere,  i.  374,  387, 

389- 

B. 

Babies,  mode  of  carrying,  i. 
199. 


Babwende,  the,  i.  404. 

Bakumu,  the,  ii.  284. 

Bakundi,  the,  ii.  1 36. 

Bakundu,  the,  work  among,  i. 

68. 

Bakuti,  a chief,  ii.  151. 

Balali,  the,  i.  334  ; their  recep- 
tion of  Bentley,  i.  337. 

Bale  Mission,  work  of,  i.  97. 

Balfern,  \V.  P.,  arrival  of,  ii. 
274;  death  of,  ii.  276. 

Balolo  Mission,  the,  ii.  417. 

Bambari,  the,  i.  460. 

Bambunu,  the,  i.  459. 

Bamfunu,  the,  ii.  151. 

Banana,  i.  69 ; houses  at,  i. 
71  ; trade  of,  i,  71  ; water 
of,  i.  72. 

Banana  fruit,  i.  157. 

Bangala,  the,  ii.  73 ; canni- 
balism of,  ii.  94;  welcome 
of,  ii.  177  ; bad  character  of, 
ii.  254  sq.  ; language  of,  ii. 
263. 

Bangala  Station,  formation  of, 
ii.  217. 

Bangulu-ngulu,  the,  ii.  135. 

Bankua,  a chief,  ii.  19. 

Bantu,  the,  i.  225  sq. ; language 
of,  i.  226  sq. 

Baobab,  the,  i.  143. 

Baptisms,  the  first,  ii.  1 1 8 ; at 
San  Salvador,  ii.  163 ; at 
Wathen,  ii.  183  sq.;  at  Tun- 
gwa,  ii.  364. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society, 
commences  work  at  Fer- 
nando Po,  i.  57  ; appeal  of, 
i.6o;  work  in  theCameroons, 
i.  68  ; starts  the  Congo  Mis- 
sion, i.  85  ; centenary  of,  ii. 
309  ; list  of  missionaries,  ii. 
429  sq. 

Barfield,  Mr.,  his  work  on  lan- 
guage, i.  245. 


Barroso,  Padre,  on  mission  re- 
sults in  Congo,  i.  37  sq.  ; 
false  conduct  of,  i.  378. 

Barter,  native,  i.  1 58. 

Basoko,  hostile  conduct  of,  ii. 
100. 

Bastian,  Dr.,  expedition  of,  i. 

54- 

Basundi,  the,  i.  320,  404. 

Bateke,  revolt  of,  i.  26  ; funeral 
customs  of.  i.  253  ; bad  con- 
duct of,  ii.  14. 

Bawumbu,  the,  i.  457,  459. 

Bayaka,  the,  raid  Congo,  i.  29. 

Bayansi,  the,  i.  460,  ii.  15 1 ; 
character  of,  i.  464  ; seats  of, 
ii.  18  ; children  of,  ii.  18. 

Baynes,  Mr.,  Secretary  of 
B.M.S.,  work  of,  i.  87. 

Beads,  trade  in,  ii.  20. 

Beedham,  R.,  arrival  of,  ii. 
286. 

Bees,  attack  by,  i.  185. 

Belgian  sympathy,  ii.  400. 

Belgians,  King  of  the,  holds 
a congress,  i.  296 ; agree- 
ment with,  ii.  75,  79  ; plans 
of,  ii.  426. 

Believers,  i.  35  sq. 

Bell,  John,  A.T.S.,  arrival  of, 
ii.  356. 

Bell,  Mrs.  J.,  arrival  of,  ii. 

394- 

Bemba,  Bentley  at,  i.  362 ; 
troubles  at,  i.  422. 

Bentley,  W.  Holman,  accepted 
by  B.M.S.,  i.  87;  farewell 
meetings,  i.  87  ; voyage  of, 
i.  88  sq. ; reaches  the  Congo, 
i.  105  sq. ; landing,  i.  107  ; 
voyage  to  Ponta  de  Lenha, 
i.  109;  Boma,  i.  iiosq. ; 
start  of  caravan,  i.  1 1 5 sq. ; 
journey  of,  i.  1 19  sq. ; recep- 
tion at  San  Salvador,  i.  123  ; 


INDEX 


441 


Sunday  services,  i.  1 34  sq. ; 
watched  by  natives,  i.  137  ; 
builds  a stone  house,  i.  143  ; 
journey  of,  to  Wathen,  i. 
153  sq- ; journey  to  Musuku, 
i.  162  ; dines  with  the  king, 
i.  165  ; visits  Dom  Alvaro, 
i.  167  ; makes  a tour  with 
the  king,  i.  196  sq.  ; obtains 
a native  helper,  i.  202  ; 
commences  school,  i.  215; 
hold  services  at  Mwala,  i. 
217;  Christmas,  1 880,  i. 
218;  prepares  Kongo  Dic- 
tionary, i.  242  ; suffers  from 
his  eyes,  i.  244 ; visits 
northern  bank  of  Congo 
river,  i.  299  sq. ; trouble 
with  Kru  boys,  i.  308 ; 
enters  a cloud,  i.31 1 ; crosses 
a native  bridge,  i.  314; 
troubles  at  Mbota,  i.  318; 
at  Zinga,  i.  326;  robbed,  i. 
332 ; first  sight  of  Stanley 
Pool,  i.  337 ; received  by 
Bwabwa,  i.  338  sq. ; at 
Stanley  Pool,  i.  344  ; recep- 
tion by  Nga  Liema,  i.  344  sq. ; 
arrival  of  French  marines,  i. 
347  ; trouble  at  Kinshasa, 
i.  352  sq. ; among  the  catar- 
acts, i.  363 ; meeting  with 
Stanley,  i.  364 ; return 
journey,  i.  366  sq. ; welcome 
at  San  Salvador,  i.  375  ; 
starts  for  lower  river,  i.  384  ; 
at  Wathen,  i.  390 ; adventure 
with  a snake,  i.  394 ; food 
difficulties,  i.  402  ; voyage 
in  the  Plymouth,  i.  407  sq.  ; 
journey  to  Manyanga,  i.  420 ; 
difficulties  with  Ntombo,  i. 
432  ; his  surgery,  i.  437  ; 
adventure  with  Lieut.  Orban, 

i.  441  ; starts  for  Stanley 
Pool,  i.  454  sq. ; return 
journey,  i.  465  ; voyage  in 
the  Willem,  i.  466  ; back  to 
Manyanga,  i.  469;  difficulties 
at  Arthington,  ii.  14  ; food 
difficulties,  ii.  20  ; building 
at  Stanley  Pool,  ii.  28  ; 
circumnavigating  voyage,  ii. 
30  sq. ; difficulties  with 
carriers,  ii.  40 ; elephant 
hunting,  ii.  45  ; furlough  of, 

ii.  46;  return  of,  ii.  134  sq. ; 
river  difficulties  of,  ii.  137'; 
blackmail,  ii.  139;  starts 
a new  journey,  ii.  147  ; ill-  | 

VOL.  II. 


ness,  ii.  148  ; journey  to  the 
Eqitator,  ii.  167  sq.  ; transla- 
tion work,  ii.  181  ; returns 
to  coast,  ii.  189 ; narrow 
escape  from  drowning,  ii. 
190;  revisits  San  Salvador, 
ii.  191;  a new  route,  ii. 
198  sq. ; visits  secret  Ngombe 
towns,  ii.  325  ; journey  with 
Mrs.  Bentley,  ii.  331  sq.  ; 
medical  work,  ii.  342  ; visit 
to  Tungwa,  ii.  347  ; return 
to  England  and  translation 
work,  ii.  355 ; at  Tungwa 
and  Makuta,  ii.  362  sq. ; at 
Mongo,  ii.  367 ; Kinsaku, 
ii.  368 ; visits  to  Zombo, 
ii.  402. 

Bentley,  Mrs.,  arrival  of,  ii. 
134;  her  influence,  ii.  331  ; 
her  literary  work,  ii.  338, 
335- 

Berlin  Conference,  the,ii.  79  sq. 

Betrothal,  ii.  335 ; evils  of,  ii. 
373- 

Biggs,  J.  E.,  arrival  of,  ii.  107, 
116;  deathof,  ii.  178,  180. 

Bimbia,  depopulation  of,  i.  92. 

Binta,  son  of  a chief,  ii.  342. 

Black  river,  ii.  1 1 2. 

Blackmail,  attempt  to  levy,  ii. 
139- 

Blacksmith,  a native,  i.  188. 

Bleek,  on  language,  i.  232. 

Blood-brotherhood,  ii.  71. 

Bobangi,  the,  ii.  17;  houses  of, 
ii.  167  ; life  of,  ii.  168,  229  ; 
cruelty  of,  ii.  230  ; wars  of, 

ii-  233- 

Bokoso,  ii.  173. 

Bolobo, the, i.  52,65 ; ii.50,  68. 

Bolobo  Station,  formation  of, 
ii.  207  ; story  of,  ii.  228  ; 
industrial  work  at,ii.  237.sq. 

Boma,  slaveiy  at,  i.46 ; descrip- 
tion of,  i.  112  sq. 

Bonny,  i.  100. 

Bonzungos,  the,  wars  of,  ii. 

233- 

‘ Books,’  native  use  of,  i.  96, 
160. 

Bopoto,  i.  65  ; ii.  96,  214. 

Bopoto  Station,  story  of,  ii. 
266 ; trade  of,  ii.  269  ; school 
work  at,  ii.  273 ; progress 
at,  ii.  276. 

Boshende,  ii.  71. 

Braconnier,  Lieut.,  kindness  of, 
i.  461. 

Brass,  uses  of,  i.  464. 

F f 


Brazza,  Count  .S.  de,  his  travels, 
i.  297  sq. 

Bridge,  a native,  i.  314. 

Brown,  J.  G.,  arrival  of,  ii. 

183  ; death  of,  ii.  209. 
Brusciotto,  his  works  on  lan- 
guage, i.  244. 

Bug,  a noxious,  i.  117. 
Bula-Kati,  story  of,  ii.  370. 
Bula-matadi,  a chief,  i.  28. 
Bumbimbe,  ii.  114. 

Bungata,  ii.  92. 

Bungudi,  a chief,  ii.  222. 
Burial  customs,  i.  174  sq. 
Busuku,  story  of,  ii.  360  sq. 
Butcher,  H.  W.,  illness  of,ii.  38. 
Butcher,  Miss,  arrival  of,  ii. 
196. 

Bwabwa,  a chief,  conduct  of, 
i-  338  sq,,  357. 

Bwaka-matu,  a chief,  i.  81  ; 

death  of,  i.  213. 

Bwala,  story  of,  ii.  247. 
Bwende,  ii.  153. 


C. 

Cam,  a servant,  i.  103. 
Cameron,  Commander,  expedi- 
tion of,  i.  54. 

Cameron,  G.  R.  R.,  arrival  of, 
ii.  76  ; his  translation  work, 
ii.  181  ; furlough  of,  ii.  182  ; 
marriage  of,  ii.  355. 
Cameroons  Mission,  story  of, 

i.  68,  100  sq. 

Cannibalism  at  Bangala,  ii. 
94;  at  Basoko,  ii.  loi  ; at 
Slobangi,  ii.  210;  at  Mon- 
sembe,  ii.  254  ; at  Bopoto, 

ii.  270. 

Canoes,  i.  143,  392  ; ii.  65. 
Caravan  travelling,  i.  117. 
Caravans,  trade,  i.  74. 
Carpentry,  native,  i.  145. 
Carpet  system,  the,  i.  292. 
Carrie,  Pere,  letter  of,  i.  160  sq. 
Carriers,  troubles  with,  i.  121, 
130;  payment  for,  ii.  314; 
sickness  among,  ii.  357. 
Cassava,  i.  396. 

Cerastes,  i.  393. 

Ceuta,  siege  of,  i.  18. 

Charters,  D.,  arrival  of,  ii.  105  ; 

fate  of,  ii.  182. 

Cheap  missions,  ii.  416. 
Chickabiddy,  an  adjutant,  ii.  34. 
Chief,  mode  of  investiture,  ii. 

245- 


442 


INDEX 


Christian  and  Missionary  Alli- 
ance, ii.  417. 

Christian  Disciples  Mission,  ii. 
418. 

Christo,  reverence  for,  i.  35. 

Church,  native  word  for,  i.  236. 

Clark,  J.  A.,  arrival  of,  ii.  208  ; 
at  Bolobo,  ii.  236. 

Climate  of  Congo,  i.  148  sq. 

Cloth,  use  of,  i.  160 ; at  fune- 
rals, i.  174;  native,  ii.  1 74 ; 
as  payment,  ii.  314. 

Cloud  belt,  the,  i.  149. 

Coffee,  native,  ii.  53. 

Colour  of  the  people,  i.  223. 

Comber,  Mr.,  senr.,  ii.  354. 

Comber,  Percy,  arrival  of,  ii. 
107  ; illness  of,  ii.  183  ; mar- 
riage of,  ii.  353 ; death  of, 
ii-  354- 

Comber,  Mrs.  P.,  death  of,  ii. 
354- 

Comber,  Sidney,  arrival  of,  ii. 
38,  59  ; death  of,  ii.  76. 

Comber,  T.  J.,  joins  mission, 
i.  57  ; visits  Congo,  i.  69 ; 
revisits  Congo,  i.  76  sq. ; re- 
turns to  San  Salvador,  i.  83  ; 
comes  to  England,  i.  85 ; 
marriage  of,  i.  87  ; arrival  of, 
at  San  Salvador,  i.  1 25  ; ill- 
ness and  death  of  his  wife,  i. 
128  sq. ; reception  at  Tim- 
gwa,  i.  131  ; returns  to  San 
Salvador,  i.  134  ; his  preach- 
ing, i.  136;  goes  to  Luangn, 
i.  205  ; attacked  at  Makuta, 
i.  207  sq. ; his  illness  and 
recovery,  i.  210  sq. ; goes  to 
Mawete,  i.  217;  attempts  to 
reach  Stanley  Pool,  i.  367 ; 
at  San  Salvador,  i.  375 ; 
starts  for  lower  river,  i.  384  ; 
voyage  in  the  Plymouth,  i. 
407  sq. ; transport  difficulties, 
i.  417;  on  medical  work,  1. 
444 ; goes  to  Mavunguta,  i. 
450  ; starts  for  Stanley  Pool, 
i.  471  ; illness  of,  i.  471  ; 
return  journey  of,  ii.  26 
sq. ; circumnavigates  Stanley 
Pool,  ii.  30  sq. ; voyage  on 
the  upper  river,  ii.  64  sq. ; 
goes  to  England,  ii.  76 ; his 
retuni,  ii.  106;  at  Stanley 
Pool,  ii.  1 1 6 ; journey  to 
San  Salvador,  ii.  118  sq. ; 
work  there,  ii.  159  sq.;  his 
illness  and  death,  ii.  164; 
his  character,  ii.  165. 


Comber,  Mrs.,  illness  and  death 
of,  i.  128  sq. 

Comber  Memorial  Station,  ii. 
401  sq.  , 

Comite  d’Etudes  du  Haut 
Congo,  work  of,  ii.  23  ; 
treaties  of,  ii.  43. 

Congo,  embassy  to,  i.  20  ; ac- 
count of,  i.  22  ; provinces  of, 
i.  23 ; rise  of,  i.  23 ; San 
Salvador  made  capital  of,  i. 
24 : kings  of,  i.  24  sq. ; 

arrival  of  missionaries  at,  i. 
24 ; baptism  of  king  and 
queen,  i.  25  ; Jesuits  in,  i. 
28 ; gold  mines  in,  i.  29 ; 
Dutch  take  Loanda,  i.  31  ; 
list  of  recent  kings,  i.  33  ; 
visitors  to,  i.  33  sq. ; result 
of  Romish  missions  in,  i. 
36  sq. ; slavery  in,  i.  38  sq. ; 
visited  by  Grenfell  and 
Comber,  i.  69,  76 ; climate 
of,  i.  1 48  sq. ; burial  customs 
in,  i.  174  sq. ; state  of,  i. 

1 8 6 sq. ; geology  of,  i.  2 1 9 sq. ; 
colour  of  the  people,  i.  223  ; 
sad  condition  of  the  people, 

i.  228  ; language  of,  i.  229  ; 
fetishism  in,  i.  247  sq.;  an- 
cestral worship,  i.  251 ; char- 
acter of  people,  i.  256 ; 
markets  in,  i.  399. 

Congo  Balolo  Mission,  ii.  417. 
Congo  Free  State,  formation 
of,  ii.  80;  proclamation  of, 

ii.  107  ; frontiers  of,  ii.  223 ; 
good  influence  of,  ii.  325  ; 
constitution  of,  ii.  423  ; 
officers  of,  ii.  424 ; laws  of, 
ii.  424  ; finances  of,  ii.  424  ; 
relations  of,  ii.  425;  drink 
traffic  in,  ii.  427. 

Congo  river,  discovery  of,  i. 

19  ; course  of,  i.  63  ; mouth 
of,  i.  69;  water  of,  i.  105; 
scenery  of,  i.  no,  1 1 3 ; geo- 
logy of,  i.  219  sq.  ; cataract 
region  of,  i.  298  ; current  of, 
i.  304 ; cataracts  on,  i.  363  ; 
rise  and  fall  of,  i.  404,  405  ; 
entrance  to  upper  river,  ii. 
32  ; the  upper  river,  ii.  49  ; 
exploration  of  upper  river,  ii. 
64. 

Congo  treaty,  the,  ii.  79- 
Convulsions,  mode  of  treating, 
i.  265. 

Copal  gum,  ii.  176. 

Copper  mines,  ii.  44. 


Cottingham,  W.  F.,  death  of, 
ii.  105. 

Cowe,  A.,  death  of,  ii.  105. 
Craw-craw,  a disease,  ii.  345. 
Crocodile  adventures,  ii.  30,  84, 
227,  247. 

Crocodiles  and  witches,  i.  275  ; 

ravages  of,  i.  391. 

Cross,  a great,  i.  36  ; ii.  404. 
Crowther,  Rev.  Mr.,  work  of, 

i.  100. 

Crudgington,  H.  E.,  accepted 
by  B.M.S.,  i.  87  ; his  recep- 
tion by  chiefs,  i.  120;  at 
Mwala,  i.  166  ; illness  of,  i. 
205 ; his  surgical  skill,  i. 
210;  escape  of,  i.  324; 
shoots  a snake,  i.  330;  among 
the  cataracts,  i.  363  ; illness 
of,  i.  368  ; goes  home,  i.  371, 
374;  return  of,  i.  406  ; saves 
a native,  i.  476 ; marriage  of, 

ii.  14  ,-  return  of,  ii.  56. 
Crudgington,  Mrs.,  return  of, 

ii.  56. 

Cruickshank,  A.,  arrival  of,  ii. 

75  ; death  of,  ii.  105. 

Crystal  Mountains,  the,  i.  219, 
221. 

Currency  at  Yakusu,  ii.  293; 

changes  in,  ii.  398. 

Cust,  Dr.,  on  African  languages, 
i.  223. 


D. 

Dance,  a chiefs,  i.  201. 

Danda,  ii.  91. 

Dandy,aKru  boy,  trouble  with, 
i-  354  : recovery  of,  i.  389. 
Darby,  his  work  at  Bolobo,  ii. 

236- 

Darling,  F.  C.,  arrival  of,  ii. 

75  ; death  of,  ii.  143. 

Davies,  P.,  B.A.,  arrival  of,  ii. 

107,  116  ; death  of,  ii.  359. 
De  Hailes,  Miss  E.  M.,  at 
Bolobo,  ii.  239. 

Dead,  the,  state  of,  i.  251  sq. 
Death  customs,  i.  251  sq. ; 
grief  at,  i.  269;  mourning 
for,  i.  289. 

Debt,  story  of  a,  ii.  389. 
Demons,  i.  280  sq. 

Denmark  and  the  slave  trade,  i. 
43- 

Dictionary,  a Kongo,  i.  242  ; 

progress  of,  ii.  1 34. 

Dimbu,  a chief,  ii.  390. 


INDEX 


443 


Ditabi,  ii.  iii. 

Divination,  i.  270. 

Dixon,  Herbert,  arrival  of,  i. 
406  ; illness  and  retirement 
of,  ii.  37. 

Doctors,  native,  i.  264  sq. 
Dodds,  C.  J.,  arrival  of,  ii. 
284. 

Doke,  W.  H.,  arrival  and  death 
of,  ii.  13. 

Donkeys,  landing  of,  i.  107  ; 

failure  of,  i.  1 30. 

Dover  Cliffs,  i.  344  ; ii.  31. 
Dowry  money,  ii.  333. 

Dress,  importance  of,  ii,  187. 
Drink  traffic,  regulation  of,  ii. 
427. 

Dutch  Trading  Company, 
history  of,  i.  69. 

Dwarfs,  a race  of,  i.  225. 


E. 

Elembe,  a native  word,  i.  290. 
Elephant  hunting,  ii.  45- 
Embuma,  story  of,  ii.  251. 
Emini,  a chief,  story  of,  i.  23. 
Engineers,  death  of,  ii.  55. 
Epea,  a servant,  i.  103  ; stories 
of  his  conduct,  i.  124;  has 
small-pox,  i.  163. 

Ethiopia,  the,  wreck  of,  i.  92, 
466. 

Etoto,  mission  work  at,  ii.  301. 


F. 

Faith  Healing  Mission,  ii.  416. 

Fear,  prevalence  of,  i.  293. 

Fernando  Po,  B.M.S.  work  at, 
i.  57  ; story  of  missions  at, 
i.  100. 

Feruzi,  Robert,  i.  395. 

Fetish,  fate  of  a,  i.  185  ; nature 
of,  i.  256  sq. 

Fetishes,  of  Tungwa,  i.  257  sq. ; 
crusade  against,  i.  290  sq. ; 
giving  up  of,  ii.  365. 

Fetishism,  i.  247  sq. 

Fever,  i.  125  ; ii.  435  sq- 

Fire  at  Leopoldville,  ii.  130. 

Fish,  smoked,  ii.  140. 

Fish  story,  a,  i.  292. 

Fisheries  at  Stanley  Falls,  ii. 
289. 

Fishing,  i.  391. 

Fiuma,  a chief,  ii.  198. 

Flag,  the,  story  of,  i.  122. 


h'ly,  a black,  i.  471. 

Food  of  missionaries,  i.  157; 

difficulty  about,  ii.  139. 
Forfeit!,  J.  Lawson,  arrival  of, 
ii.  208. 

Forfeit!,  W.  L.,  arrival  of,  ii. 
208  ; his  work  at  Underhill, 
ii.  319. 

Forked  stick,  use  of,  ii.  152. 
Frame,  W.  B.,  arrival  of,  ii. 
360. 

France,  action  of,  ii.  23. 

Free  State,  see  Congo  Free 
State. 

Freetown,  i.  94. 

French  marines,  their  reception 
of  Bentley,  i.  347. 

French  priests,  work  of,  ii.  33. 
French  territory,  limits  of,  ii. 
81. 

Fruit  trees  at  Wathen,  ii.  321. 
Fuller,  J.  J.,  i.  loi. 

Funeral  customs,  i.  174  sq. ; 
cruelties  at,  i.  253  sq.  ; of 
Nlemvo’s  mother,  ii.  203. 


G. 

Gaboon,  i.  103. 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  voyages  of,  i. 
20. 

Gambling,  ii.  293. 

Game,  abundance  of,  i.  303. 
Games  at  Wathen,  ii.  396. 
Garcia,  a cook,  i.  156. 

Garcia,  Dom,  work  of,  i.  169. 
Gender  in  language,  i.  231. 
Geographical  Congress  in 
Brussels,  i.  296. 

German  annexations,  ii.  79. 
German  missions  in  Cameroons, 
i.  102. 

Giant,  death  of,  ii.  249. 

Gin  trade,  i.  72  ; effects  of,  i. 

91  ; used  in  payment,  i.  448. 
Glennie,  R.,  arrival  of,  ii.  208  ; 

return  of,  ii.  236. 

God,  native  names  for,  i.  247  ; 

knowledge  of,  i.  248  sq. 
Gold  Coast,  gold  in,  i.  98. 
Gold  discovered  in  Congo,  i. 
29,  98. 

Goodwill,  the,  ii.  221. 

Govea,  Captain,  restores  San 
Salvador,  i.  29. 

Graham,  R.  H.  C.,  ii.  299. 
Graham,  Mrs.,  work  of,  ii.  314. 
Grandy,  Lieut.,  expedition  of, 
i-  55- 


Grang,  Lieut.,  kindness  of,  i. 
472- 

Grasses,  native,  i.  147  sq. ; 

burning  of,  i.  213. 

Grass-salt,  ii.  36. 

Grenfell,  George,  joins  mission, 

i.  57  ; visits  Congo,  i.  69, 
76  sq.  ; at  San  Salvador,  i. 
83  ; his  work  at  Musuku,  i. 
368 ; at  Stanley  Pool,  ii.  28  ; 
return  of,  ii.  48 ; rebuilds 
the  Peace,  ii.  62  ; voyage  on 
the  upper  river,  ii.  64  sq.  ; 
return  of,  ii.  75 ; second 
journey  in  the  Peace,  ii.  84 
sq.  ; hostile  reception  by 
Basoko,  ii.  99 ; work  of 
Arab  raiders,  ii.  loi  sq. ; 
return  voyage,  ii.  103; 
another  voyage  to  the  Equa- 
tor, ii.  107  ; his  chart  work, 

ii.  127;  medal  awarded,  ii. 
128;  return  of,  ii.  183; 
baptisms,  ii.  183  sq.  ; starts 
station  at  Bolobo,  ii.  207  ; 
Mobangi  town,  ii.  209 ; Bo- 
poto,  ii.  214;  Bangala,  ii. 
217;  in  England,  ii.  221; 
appointed  Commissioner,  ii. 
223;  decorated,  ii.  224;  at 
Bolobo,  ii.  230,  236;  fur- 
lough of,  ii.  236. 

Grenfell,  Mrs.,  arrival  of,  i. 
296 ; ii.  28. 

Grenfell,  Miss  P.,  death  of,  ii. 
240. 

Guilds,  i.  281. 

Guinness,  Dr.  H.,  Grammar  of, 
i.  245. 

Guyot,  Abbe,  ii.  33. 


H. 

Hair,  African,  i.  223;  mode 
of  dressing,  ii.  1 7. 

Halos,  sun,  dread  of,  i.  169. 

‘ Hamburg  cargo,’  i.  90. 

Hammock-weaving,  i.  199. 

Harou,  Lieut.,  firm  conduct  of, 
i.  427  sq. 

Harrison,  F.  G.,  arrival  of,  iL 
183  ; return  of,  ii.  236. 

Hartland,  J.  S.,  accepted  by 
B.M.S. , i.  87;  his  descrip- 
tion of  caravan  start,  i.  1 1 5 
sq. ; audience  with  King  of 
Congo,  i.  125;  escape  of,  i. 
144;  at  Mwala,  i.  171;  ac- 
companies Comber,  i.  206 


F f 2 


444 


INDEX 


sq.  ; his  work  on  grammar, 

i.  240  ; at  San  Salvador,  i. 
381  ; journeys  of,  i.  477  ; 
illness  and  death  of,  ii.  25  ; 
see  also  Comber,  T.  J. 

Hartley,  J.  W.,  death  of,  ii.  53. 
Hay,  Mrs.  Wright,  death  of, 

ii.  116. 

Hell’s  Cauldron,  i.  430. 
Henrique,  Dom,  i.  168. 

Henry,  Prince,  the  Navigator, 
i.  17  sq. 

Hickory  Town,  i.  102. 
Hippopotami,  adventures  with, 
ii-  31,  52- 
Hoes,  i.  189. 

Honesty,  native,  ii.  393. 
Hoop-iron,  i.  189. 

House,  native,  i.  127  sq.,  368; 
process  of  building  a stone, 
i.  143  sq. 

Houses  of  the  Moya,  ii.  271. 
Hughes,  W.,  arrival  of,  i.  473. 

I. 

Ibaka,  a chief,  ii.  232. 

Ibiu,  i.  341,  357. 

Ikoko,  ii.  176. 

Ilebo,  ii.  53,  71,  171. 
India-rubber,  i.  99. 

Ingham,  Mr.,  adventure  with 
a crocodile,  i.  275;  elephant 
hunting  by,  ii.  45. 

Insect,  a noxious,  i.  117. 
International  Association,  po- 
licy of,  ii.  79. 

Isangila,  i.  306  sq. 

Islands,  i.  460 ; ii.  33,  89. 
Itunzima  Cataract,  i.  422. 
Ivory,  trade  in,  i.  73,  460. 
lye,  story  of,  ii.  226. 

J- 

Jamaica,  emancipation  in,  i.  57. 
James,  Dr.  P.,  his  Health  on 
the  Congo,  ii.  106. 

Jidi  river,  ii.  151. 

Jigger  insect,  the,  i.  195. 

Joao,  Dom,  i.  138. 

Johnston,  Sir  H.,  arrival  of,  ii. 

^3- 

Jumbo,  J.,  a chief,  i.  99. 
Jumbo,  Oko,  i.  99. 

K. 

Kabindas,  the,  i.  71. 

Kalahari  Desert,  the,  i.  155. 


Kalombo,  story  of,  ii.  187. 
Kalu,  story  of,  ii.  363. 
Kanga-mpaka,  a chief,  i.  90. 
Kasai  river,  ii.  124. 

Kayembe,  story  of,  ii.  18S. 
Kiambu,  a chief,  i.  142. 
Kianda,  wild  conduct  of,  ii. 

348- 

Kibi,  a servant,  i.  440. 
Kibokolo,  Lewis  at,  ii.  405  sq. 
Kidudu,  story  of,  ii.  378. 
Kikandikila,  ii.  204. 

Kildare,  Miss,  ii.  415. 
Kimbangu,  ii.  151. 

Kimpesi,  work  at,  ii.  303. 
Kimpoko,  ii.  158. 

Kings  of  Congo,  i.  26  sq. 
Kinkela  Mavinga,  a chief,  i. 
120. 

Kinkufu,  a fly,  i.  471. 
Kinsende,  i.  201. 

Kinshasa,  Bentley  at,  i.  352 
sq.  ; school  at,  ii.  140. 
Kinsuka,  i.  191  ; ii.  200. 
Kintambu,  i.  344. 

Kiteke  language,  the,  ii.  16. 
Kiula,  a chief,  ii.  335. 

Kiyansi  language,  the,  ii.  18. 
Kiyoka  movement,  the,  i.  290 

„ 

Kolbe,  on  language,  i.  228. 
Kolokolo,  story  of,  ii.  18. 
Kondwa,  chosen  king,  ii.  309. 
Kongo  language,  the,  i.  229  sq. 
Kru  boys,  i.  45  ; as  workers,  i. 
94  sq. ; names  of,  i.  97  ; 
trouble  with,  i.  308  ; super- 
stition of,  i.  476. 

Kru  language,  the,  i.  95. 
Krumanos,  i.  45. 

Kusakana,  a chief,  i.  477  > *'■ 
339- 

Kwa  river,  ii.  65. 

JCwanga,  a native  food,  i. 

398- 

Kwangu  river,  ii.  135. 
Kwanza,  rocks  at,  i.  122. 


L. 

Lady  Alice  Rapids,  i.  331, 
455- 

Lady  missionaries,  influence 
of,  ii.  57  ; list  of,  ii.  431. 
Lancely,  Mr.,  death  of,  i.  422. 
Landana,  i.  467. 

Language  difficulties,  ii.  127. 
Languages  of  Africa,  i.  223  sq. 
Lazaro,  a priest,  i.  76. 


Lead  mines,  ii.  44. 

Lemba,  ii.  147. 

Lemvo,  i.  200. 

Leopard’s  prey  eaten,  i.  418. 
Leopold, King, holds  acongress, 
i.  296 ; agreement  with,  ii. 
75,  79;  plans  of,  ii.  426. 
Leopold  Lake,  ii.  1 74. 
Leopoldville,  building  of,  i. 
433;  abandoned,  ii.  12959.; 
fire  at,  ii.  131. 

Lewis,  T.,  on  San  Salvador 
converts,  ii.  163;  his  work 
at  Madimba,  ii.  300 ; at 
Zombo,  ii.  405. 

Lewis,  Mrs.,  work  of,  ii.  312. 
Liberia,  i.  97. 

Lightning,  i.  151  sq. 

Lightning  Rock,  the,  i.  112. 
Likunungu,  ii.  96. 

Livingstone,  Dr.,  travels  of,  i. 
61. 

Livingstone  Inland  Mission, 

i.  90,  362  ; stations  of,  i. 
448,  469  ; ii.  411. 

Lo,  story  of,  ii.  347  ; work  of, 

ii.  349. 

Loanda,  taken  by  the  Dutch, 
i.  32  sq. 

Loango,  kingdom  of,  i.  22; 

depopulation  of,  i.  92. 
Lobengo,  ii.  93. 

Lo-bobangi,  ii.  18  ; language 
of,  ii.  244. 

Lokele,  the,  ii.  282. 

Lokuku,  ii.  115. 

Lomola,  story  of,  ii.  191. 

Lone  Island,  ii.  67. 

Lopez,  Duarte,  his  account  of 
Congo,  i.  22  sq. 

Lord’s  Prayer,  the,  ii.  433. 
Losche,  Dr.  P.,  is  wounded, 
i.  469. 

Lovo,  work  at,  ii.  300. 

Luala  river,  i.  314. 

Luangu,  i.  205. 

Lubi  Cataract,  ii.  99. 

Lubuji  river,  i.  312. 

Luezi  river,  i.  139. 

Lukangn,  ii.  177. 

Lukasa  river,  i.  314. 

Lukolela,  ii.  52,  69,  87,  170. 
Lukolela  Station,  story  of,  ii. 
240  ; press  work  at,  ii.  243; 
church  at,  ii.  251. 

Lukunga,  i.  469. 

Lulendo,  a chief,  i.  405,  419, 
431 ; visit  of,  ii.  331  ; story 
of,  ii.  383. 

Lulongo  river,  ii.  loS. 


INDEX 


Lulu  river,  i.  304. 

Lumbemba,  story  of,  ii.  191. 
Lnnga,  Dom  H.,  i.  142. 

Luoji  river,  i.  359. 

Lusala  Kavundi,  story  of,  ii. 
249. 

Lutete,  a chief,  i.  267,  434. 
Lutunu,  story  of,  ii.  383. 
Luyambula,  story  of,  ii.  378. 


Mabambulu,  conquest  of,  i.  24. 
Madeira,  discovery  of,  i.  19. 
Madia  Kiavevua,  story  of,  ii. 
371- 

Madimba,  work  at,  ii.  300. 
Madinga,  ii.  329. 
Magic-lantern,  use  of,  ii.  343. 
Makabi,  a chief,  i.  342. 
Makitu,  a chief,  i.  470  ; ii.  336 ; 

story  of,  ii.  381  sq. 

Makoko,  a chief,  ii.  147. 
Makoko,  capture  Portuguese 
merchants,  i.  32. 

Makuta,  i.  78,  206 ; work 
at,  ii.  362  ; baptisms  at,  ii. 
373- 

Malamina,  Sergeant,  352  sq. 
Mangaba,  a chief,  ii.  73. 
Manjele,  a boy,  ii.  149. 
Manteke,  i.  449,  453. 

Mantu,  marriage  of,  ii.  189; 

story  of,  ii.  382. 

Mantumba,  ii.  53,  174. 
Manyanga,  i.  323;  marriage 
customs,  ii.  44. 

Manzi,  i.  44,  302,  386. 

Maps,  ii.  127. 

Maringa,  ii.  no. 

Markets,  native,  i.  358,  399. 
Marriage  customs  of  the  Man- 
yanga, ii.  44  ; first  Christian, 
ii.  187;  at  Wathen,  ii.  332. 
Masabe,  i.  467. 

Masanda,  a guide,  ii.  151. 
Mata,  a carrier,  i.  332. 

Mata  river,  i.  321. 

Matadi,  i.  90;  ii.  201;  pro- 
gress at,  320. 

Matadi  Cataract,  i.  421. 
Matanga,  reception  by,  i.  120. 
Matoko,  a chief,  i.  78. 
Matriarchal  system,  the,  i.  458. 
Matuza,  a chief,  i.  473. 

Maulu,  story  of,  ii.  251. 
Mavinga,  reception  by,  i.  120. 
Mavunguta  Cataract,  i.  450. 
Mawete,  Comber  at,  i.  165. 


Mawunze,  ii.  303. 

Maynard,  J.,  arrival  of,  ii.  107  ; 

death  of,  ii.  117. 

Mayumbas,  the,  i.  309. 
Mbamba,  i.  312. 

Mbangi,  story  of,  ii.  374. 
Mbangii,  i.  195. 

Mbata,  cross  at,  ii.  404. 

Mbe,  a chief,  i.  457. 

Mbilu,  the,  i.  434. 

Mbonga,  a guide,  i.  471. 
Mbota,  Bentley  at,  i.  318. 
Mbu,  the,  i.  323. 

Mbuji,  the,  i.  312. 

Mbumba,  ii.  96. 

Mbumba,  a chief,  story  of, 
ii.  298. 

Mbundi  river,  i.  302. 

McAll,  Adam,  arrival  of,  i.  449. 
McMillan,  Donald,  arrival  of, 
ii.  76 ; death  of,  ii.  104. 
Meat,  tinned,  native  horror  at, 

i.  252. 

Medical  work,  i.  157,437,444. 
Medicine,  native,  i.  264. 
Mfulukadi  river,  i.  334. 
Mfutila,  chosen  king,  ii.  304 ; 
his  character,  ii.  307 ; his 
death,  ii.  309. 

Miguel,  Dom,  i.  1S8. 

Mims,  an  engineer,  death  of, 

ii.  75. 

Mining,  native,  ii.  44. 

Misilina,  a Christian,  i.  103; 
his  interpretations,  i.  181  sq.; 
departure  of,  i.  188. 
Misongo,  ii.  167. 

Mobangi,  cannibalism  at,  ii. 

210;  trade  at,  ii.  217. 
Mobangi  river,  ii.  54. 

Mobeka,  ii.  95. 

Mobele,  ii.  98. 

Momenge  towns,  ii.  98. 
Mongadi,  a chief,  ii.  151. 
Mongo,  welcome  at,  ii.  367. 
Monsembe  Station,  story  of, 
ii.  253;  wars  at,  ii.  254; 
cannibalism  at,  ii.  256  ; 
mourning  at,  ii.  258  ; super- 
stition at,  ii.  262  ; language 
at,  ii.  263 ; schools  at,  ii. 
264 ; inundations  at,  ii.  265. 
Moolenaar,  H.  K.,  arrival  of, 
i.  473  at  Manyanga,  i.  477. 
Moors,  expulsion  of,  from  Por- 
tugal, i.  iS. 

Mosaku,  ii.  97,  140. 
Mosquitoes,  ii.  435. 

Mourning,  i.  175,  289. 

Moye,  the,  ii.68,  228;  influence 


445 

of  a baby  among,  ii.  169*; 
houses  of,  ii.  271. 

Mpangu,  i.  263,  31 1. 

Mpanzu,  a chief,  i.  26. 
Mpembele,  a guide,  i.  190. 
Mpete,  witchcraft  at,  ii.  335. 
Mpezo,  story  of,  i.  279  ; fate 
of,  i.  415. 

Mpozo  valley,  the,  i.  122. 
Mpuki,  a chief,  ii.  243. 
Mpukuta,  story  of,  ii.  392. 
Mpumbu,  i.  457. 

Mputu,  work  at,  ii.  298. 
Mukimbungu,  i.  422,  449. 
Mukula,  i.  468. 

Mungulu,  a chief,  ii.  231. 
Munjeke,  a child,  ii.  18. 

Munya  Mani,  ii.  102. 

Murder  of  a woman,  ii.  108. 
Mushie,  ii.  65. 

Musuku,  factory  at,  i.  113; 

missionaries  at,  i.  116. 
Mvika,  story  of,  ii.  378. 

Mwala,  Hartland  at,  i.  171. 
Mwidi  Hills,  i.  119. 

Myrtle  Street  Chapel,  meeting 
at,  i.  87. 

Mysteries  or  guilds,  i.  281. 


N. 

Nanu,  a chief,  ii.  92. 

Nasanda,  Comber  at,  i.  166. 

Ndala,  story  of,  ii.  379  sq. 

Ndandanga,  the,  i.  432. 

Ndetnbo,  a native  custom,  i. 
284. 

Ndolo,  ii.  19. 

Ndombi,  a chief,  ii.  245. 

Ndunga,  the,  i.  469. 

Nekiowa,  dance  of,  i.  2or. 

New  Testament,  translation  of, 
ii-  35a- 

Nga  Liema,  his  reception  of 
Bentley,  i.  344  sq.  ; troubles 
of,  i.  461 ; fair  conduct  of, 
ii.  16 ; greed  of.  ii.  21. 

Nga  Nkari,  a chief,  ii.  156. 

Ngani  Kiunga,  a chief,  i.  167. 

Ngili-wumba,  ii.  1 74. 

Ngo-ibila,  a chief,  ii.  50. 

Ngoi,  a chief,  ii.  233. 

Ngoma,  a chief,  i.  457. 

Ngoma  Mountain,  i.  29S. 

Ngoma  river,  i.  418. 

Ngombe,  the,  ornaments  of, 
ii.  92 ; secret  towns  of,  ii. 
325  ; anarchy  at,  ii.  327. 

Ngombe,  stat  ion  formed  at  ,ii.6o. 


446 


INDEX 


Ngulu  river,  i.  303. 

Nianga  grass,  i.  147. 

Nigger,  use  of  the  term,  i.  94. 
Njuele,  a native,  ii.  15. 
Nkalama  river,  i.  455. 

Nkandu,  market  of,  i.  358. 
Nkasa,  a poison,  i.  276. 

Nkasa,  Bentley  at,  i.  317. 
Nkela,  ii.  199. 

Nkie  river,  ii.  86. 

Nkimba,  a native  custom,  i. 
282. 

Nkindu,  a fetish,  i.  260. 

Nkio  Buminu,  Bentley  at,  i.  336. 
Nkisi  river,  i.  328. 

Nkonzi,  story  of,  ii.  376. 
Nkufii,  a sand-fly,  i.  319. 
Nkunga,  i.  324. 

Nlekai,  work  of,  ii.  298. 
Nlemvo,  conduct  of,  i.  35  ; his 
help  in  the  language,  i.  242 ; 
and  witch,  i.  289  ; conver- 
sion of,  i.  446  ; baptism  of, 
ii.  181 ; marriage  of,  ii.  187  ; 
death  and  funeral  of  his 
mother,  ii.  202. 

Nlende,  Bentley  at,  i.  360. 
Nlengi,  i.  119. 

Nsaku,  a hostage,  i.  20. 
Nsanda,  chiefs  of,  i.  44. 
Nsundi,  Governor  of,  still  un- 
buried, i.  23. 

Nsunga,  a chief,  i.  328  sq. 
Nsusu-ampembe,  a chief,  i.  83, 

131- 

Nswela,  story  of,  ii.  377. 
Ntamo  Falls,  i.  67. 

Ntetela,  story  of,  ii.  338. 
Ntombi  river,  i.  308. 

Ntombo,  the,  i.  432. 

Ntombo  Falls,  i.  67. 

Ntotela,  King  of  Congo,  dines 
with  missionaries,  i.  165  ; his 
court,  i.  171 ; his  feelings  at 
Bentley’s  kindness  to  Tembe, 

i.  180;  makes  a tour  with 
Bentley,  i.  196  sq. ; his 
character,  i.  204 ; his  wel- 
come to  the  missionaries,  i. 
376  ; attends  the  services,  i. 
376 ; his  unfriendly  conduct, 

ii.  160;  fears  of,  ii.  194; 
changed  conduct  of,  ii.  303 ; 
death  of,  ii.  304  ; funeral  of, 
ii.  306. 

Ntsele  valley,  ii.  154. 

Ntula,  a chief,  ii.  176- 
Numerals,  native,  i.  121. 
Nuni-amazi,  story  of,  ii.  390. 
Nzo,  story  of,  ii.  374  sq. 


O. 

Oil  palm,  the,  i.  73. 

Oko  Jumbo,  a chief,  i.  99. 
Oliveria,  a slave-owner,  anec- 
dote of,  i.  46. 

Oram,  F.,  arrival  of,  ii.  196; 
death  of,  ii.  274 ; at  Wathen, 
ii-  325,  337- 

Orban,  Lieut.,  adventure  of,  i. 
44 1 . 

Ordeal  by  poison,  i.  276  sq. 


P. 

Palabala,  the,  i.  90,  448. 

Palm  oil,  i.  71,  73,  99. 

Palmatorio,  a slave  punish- 
ment, i.  46. 

Parkes,  Mr.,  hospitality  of,  i. 
468. 

Parkinson,  W.  M.,  baptism  of, 
ii.  1 1 9. 

Patriarchal  system,  the,  i.  459. 

Peace,  the,  description  of,  ii.  9 ; 
arrival  of,  ii.  12;  transport 
of,  ii.  23,  30;  on  Stanley 
Pool,  ii.  48 ; rebuilding  of, 
ii.  62  ; launch  of,  ii.  63  ; gets 
aground,  ii.  122  sq.  ; lent  to 
Stanley,  ii.  145  ; accident  to, 
ii.  146;  seizure  of,  ii.  217. 

Pebble,  King  George,  i.  99. 

Pedro  V.,  i.  33  ; receives  mis- 
sionaries, i.  76,  123;  asks  for 
Sunday  services,  i.  134  sq. ; 
see  also  Ntotela. 

Pedro,  a carrier,  i.  318. 

Pelicans,  native  view  of,  i.  185. 

Phillips,  H.  R.,  his  press  work 
at  San  Salvador,  ii.  31 1. 

Phillips,  Mrs.,  death  of,  ii.  31 2. 

Pinnock,  J.,  ii.  315. 

Pitt,  Miss,  ii.  117. 

Plantain,  fruit  of,  i.  157. 

Plymouth,  the,  i.  371,  407. 

Poison,  ordeal  by,  i.  276  sq. 

Polygamy,  ii.  44. 

Ponde,  story  of,  ii.  366;  illness 
of,  ii.  369 ; work  of,  ii.  370. 

Ponta  de  Leiiha,  a slave  port, 
i.  43- 

Pople,  G.  R.,  work  of,  ii.  317. 

Portugal,  Moors  expelled  from, 
i.  18;  Inquisition  in,  i.  22; 
occupied  by  Spain,  i.  22; 
abolishes  slavery,  i.  44 ; ne- 
gotiations with,  ii.  78 ; rela- 
tions with,  ii.  81,  84. 


Portuguese  lieutenant,  story  of, 
i.  51 ; use  of  the  language,  i. 
88,  121 ; naval  chaplains,  i. 

373. 

Pottery,  ii.  37. 

Presbyterian  Missionary  .Society 
of  the  Southern  States,  ii. 
418. 

Prince,  Dr.,  i.  101. 

Printing  woVk  at  Bolobo,  ii.  238. 
Pronunciation  of  native  words, 

i.  238. 

Protestant  missions,  ii.  41 1. 
Proyart,  Abbe,  on  Congo  mis- 
sions, i.  36  sq. 

Punishment  for  slaves,  i.  46. 
Pygmy  race,  a,  i.  225. 

Pythons,  i.  393. 


R. 

Railway  Company,  the,  ii.  316, 
320. 

Rain,  white  man’s  influence 
over,  i.  313. 

Rainfall,  i.  153. 

Rainy  season,  the,  i.  148  sq. 

Read,  native  anxiety  to  learn 
to,  i.  159. 

Religion,  Congo,  i.  247  sq. 

Richards,  M.,  arrival  of,ii.  107 ; 
death  of,  ii.  205. 

Rickards,  Miss  M.,  marriage 
of,  i.  87. 

Robbery,  instances  of,  i.  186  sq. 

Roberts,  Dr.  L.,  his  Gtiide  to 
Hygiene,  ii.  106. 

Roger,  J.  L.,  arrival  of,  ii.  208. 

Rome,  Arabs  at,  ii.  280. 

Romish  missions,  results  of, 
i.  36  ; abuse  of  Protestants, 
i.  160;  opposition  of,  i.  372; 
services  of,  i.  376 ; at  San 
Salvador,  ii.  27;  list  of,  ii. 
420. 

Ross,  W.,  arrival  of,  ii.  45; 
return  of,  ii.  56. 

Royal  Geographical  Society, 
expeditions  of,  i.  54. 

Ruki  river,  ii.  72  ; cnielty  of 
people  of,  ii.  72. 


S. 

Sagres,  school  at,  i.  18. 
Salamo,  story  of,  ii.  287. 

Salt,  trade  in,  ii.  36. 

San  Antonio,  port  of,  i.  25,  69. 


INDEX 


447 


San  Salvador,  made  Congo 
capital,  i.  24 ; restoration  of, 
i.  29 ; visited  by  the  Dutch, 

i-  33;  condition  of,  i.  35; 
insecurity  of,  i.  43  ; Bentley 
at,  i.  123;  Sunday  services, 
i.  134  sq. ; description  of,  i. 
139  ; cathedral  of,  i.  141  ; 
history  of,  i.  141 ; daily  life 
in,  i.  156  sq. ; Christmas  at, 
i.  163;  court  at,  i.  171  ; first 
death  in,  i.  186;  danger  of 
fire  in,  i.  213;  school  com- 
menced at,  i.  215  ; language 
of,  i.  234 ; welcome  to  mis- 
sionaries, i.  375;  position  at, 

i.  380  ; Romish  opposition, 

ii.  27;  mission  at,  ii.  118; 
revival  at,  ii.  159;  Church 
formed  at,  ii.  163,  297;  pro- 
gress at,  ii.  191  ; efforts  at, 
ii.  301  ; centennial  gifts,  ii. 
309;  new  chapel  at,  ii.  31 1 ; 
press  work  at,  ii.  31 1 ; Church 
membership  at,  ii.  312; 
changes  at,  ii.  313. 

San  Thom^,  Bishop  of,  i.  27. 
Sand-fly,  a,  i.  319. 

.Santos,  .Senhor,  i.  142. 

Satitu,  the,  i.  36. 

Sanzi,  wife  of  a chief,  i.  23. 
Sargent,  Mr.  E.  G.,  liberality 
of,  ii.  279. 

Sargent  Station,  story  of,  ii. 
279  ; bribes  at,  ii.  282  ; mis- 
sionaries at,  ii.  284  sq. ; pro- 
gress at,  ii.  287  ; visitors  to, 
ii.  288. 

Scheut  Fathers  at  Kwa  Mouth, 

ii-  133- 

Scott,  John,  of  Boma,  story  of, 

i.  47  ; bad  conduct  of,  i.  1 70. 
Scrivener,  A.  E.,  arrival  of, 

ii.  1 1 7. 

Scrivener,  Mrs.,  death  of,  ii. 
239- 

Seats,  native,  ii.  18. 

Seed,  Miss,  arrival  of,  ii.  1 34 ; 

marriage  of,  ii.  143. 
Selulundi,  story  of,  ii.  385. 
Selutoni,  story  of,  ii.  363. 
Sengele,  a chief,  i.  80,  131. 
Shark  Point,  i.  69. 

Shindler,  J.  H., death  of,ii.  143. 
Showers,  James,  at  Bolobo, 
ii.  206,  228. 

.Sickness,  native  mode  of  treat- 
ing, i.  265. 

Sierra  Leone,  discovery  of,  i.  1 9 ; 
description  of,  i.  93  sq. 


Silvey,  S.,  arrival  of,  ii.  117; 

death  of,  ii.  208. 

Silvey,  Miss,  arrival  of,  ii.  196; 

marriage  of,  ii.  355. 
Simpson,  Mr.,  missions  of, 
ii.  416. 

Sims,  Dr.,  vocabularies  of,  ii. 
18;  accompanies  Grenfell, 
ii.  85  ; work  of,  ii.  412. 
.Slade,  A.  H.,  arrival  of,  ii.  197  ; 

death  of,  ii.  207. 

Slavery,  influence  of,  i.  38 ; 
extent  of,  i.  41  ; abolition 
of,  i.  43,  57  ; present  con- 
dition of,  i.  44 ; anecdotes 
of,  i-  4.“)- 

Slaves,  conduct  of,  i.4S ; libera- 
tion of,  i.  49 ; sell  each  other, 
i.  50. 

Sleep  sickness,  ii.  351. 
Small-pox,  outbreak  of, i.  163; 
ravages of,i.  202;atTungwa, 
ii-  363- 

Snake  river,  i.  331. 

Snakes,  i.  393. 

Sorcery,  belief  in,  i.  263. 
Sorrento,  J.  M.  de,  voyage  of, 
i-  33- 

Souza,  G.  de,  i.  25. 

Souza,  R.  de,  i.  25. 

Spearing,  Miss,  arrival  of,  ii. 

132  ; death  of,  ii.  144. 
Spells,  i.  287. 

Spirit  trade,  the,  i.  91. 

Stanley,  .Sir  H.  M.,  expeditions 
of,  i.  61  sq. ,-  plans  of,  i.  1 1 7 ; 
choo.ses  a flag,  i.  123  ; returns 
to  the  Congo,  i.  297  ; kind- 
ness of,  i.  364  ; at  Manyanga, 

i.  426  ; Leopoldville,  i.  433 ; 
return  of,  ii.  24;  explora- 
tions of,  ii.  46  ; at  Banana, 

ii.  145  ; borrows  the  Peace, 

ii.  145. 

.Stanley  Falls,  Arab  raids  at, 
ii.  102,  288;  fisheries  at, 
ii.  289. 

Stanley  Pool,  discovery  of, 

i.  67  ; first  sight  of,  i.  337! 
true  po.sition  of,  i.  363 ; 
islands  in,  i.  460 ; food  diffi- 
culties at,  ii.  19;  circum- 
navigation of,  ii.  29  sq. 

Stapleton,  W.  H.,  arrival  of, 

ii.  209 ; at  Monsembe,  ii.  2 54 ; 
on  native  superstition, ii.  262; 
at  Yakusu,  ii.  2S6;  on  visi- 
tors, ii.  288. 

Steere,  Bishop,  on  language, 
i.  228. 


Stephens,  J.  R.  M.,  ii.  285. 

‘ Stinkfish,’  i.  74. 

Storms,  i.  149  sq. 

Strom,  Mr.,  i.  90. 

Sturgeon,  Mr.,  i.  loi. 

Sun,  the,  heat  of,  i.  153. 

.Sun  halos,  dread  of,  i.  169. 
.Sunda,  i.  205. 

Sunday,  a mistake  in  the  day, 
ii.  46. 

Sunday  services  at  San  Salva- 
dor, i.  134  sq. 

Superstition,  effects  of,  i.  278. 
Surgery,  cases  of,  i.  437,  444. 
Susi,  Livingstone’s  servant,  i. 
39.5- 

Sutton,  Messrs.,  gifts  of,  ii.  323. 
Swahili  language,  use  of,  ii. 
284. 

T. 

Ta  Seka,  story  of,  ii.  40  sq. 
Tambi,  i.  122. 

Tattooing,  ii.  270. 
Ta-wanlongo,  a chief,  i.  473. 
Taylor,  Bishop,  missions  of,  ii. 
4'4- 

Teetotums,  use  of,  ii.  293. 
Teke,  the,  i.  332,  457. 
Telegraphy,  teaching  of,ii.  394. 
Tembe,  story  of,  i.  173;  his 
funeral,  i.  179. 

Temperance  work,  ii.  400. 
Temperature,  i.  153. 
Thatching,  native,  i.  148. 
Theft,  punishment  for,  ii.  2t. 
Thunder,  i.  151. 

Timber,  trade  in,  i.  99. 
Timbuktu,  trade  with,  i.  18. 
Tingi,  a carrier,  i.  318. 

Tionzo,  i.  309. 

Tipu-tib,  i.  63  ; ii.  147. 
Tofoke,  the,  ii.  283. 

Totemism,  i.  263. 

Townsend,  Mr.,  gift  of,  ii.  106. 
Toys,  use  of,  for  gifts,  i.  125. 
Trade,  native,  i.  158. 
Translation  work,  ii.  181  ; at 
Lukolela,  ii.  243 ; at  San 
Salvador,  ii.  31 1 ; atWathen, 
ii.  338;  of  Bentley,  ii.  355. 
Traps  for  demons,  i.  281. 
Trees,  danger  from,  i.  416. 
Tsotso,  i.  167. 

Tsundi,  i.  313. 

Tukey,  Lieut.  J.  K.,  expedition 
of,  i.  54. 

Tuku,  i.  168. 

Tulante,  Bidi,  a chief,  i.  200. 


448 


INDEX 


Tumba,  i.  191  ; ii.  316. 
Tungwa,  i.  131  sq. 

Tungwa  kia  Londe,  ii.  354. 
Tungwa-Makuta,  i.  77  sq. ; 
work  at,  ii.  339  ; lantern  at, 
ii.  343  ; second  visit  to,  ii. 
347  ; baptisms  at,  ii.  364 ; 
progress  at,  ii.  377. 
Tummbu,  the,  ii.  283. 


U. 

Uluki  river,  ii.  91. 

Umvilingya,  i.  335. 

Underhill,  i.  466  ; story  of,  ii. 
313  sq. 

V. 

Vaccination,  use  of,  ii.  357. 
Valcke,  Lieut.,  i.  469. 

Vana,  i.  301. 

Verbs,  native,  i.  240. 

Vickers,  Mr.,  i.  90. 

Victoria,  Cameroons,  i.  102. 
Vivi,  i.  300  ; tragedy  at,  i.  41 1 . 
Vulture,  a fishing,  i.  424. 
Vunda,  i.  449,  451. 


W. 

Wabuma,  the,  ii.  65. 

Wade,  Mr.  J.,  gifts  of,  ii.  249, 

3”- 

Wagenya,  the,  ii.  289. 
Wailing,  i.  176- 
Wamanga,  the,  ii.  283. 
Wanderer,  the,  story  of,i.  52  sq. 
Wateroflife,storyabout,  i.292. 
Wathen,  Sir  C.,  gift  of,  ii.  358. 
Wathen  Station,  the  new,  ii. 


60;  story  of,  ii.  321;  food 
at,  ii.  323  ; work  at,  ii.  324  ; 
plot  at,  ii.  325 ; marriage 
customs  at,  ii.  332 ; school 
work  at,  ii.  337 ; literary 
work  at,  ii.  338  ; itineration 
from,  ii.  344 ; boys  at,  ii. 
345  ; progress  at,  ii.  358, 
394 ; anniversary  at,  ii.  368  ; 
baptisms  at,  ii.  373  ; Sitnday 
services  at,  ii.  395;  native 
life  at,  ii.  396  sq. ; Church 
finances,  ii.  398  ; press  work 
at,  ii.  400;  temperance  work, 
ii.  400. 

Wayiza,  a chief,  ii.  326. 

Weaving,  i.  199. 

Webb,  S.  R.,  M.D.,  arrival  of, 
ii-  355  ; death  of,  ii.  356. 

Weeks,  J.  H.,  arrival  of,  i.  415 ; 
at  Monsembe,  ii.  258. 

Westcott  Brothers,  ii.  418. 

Whale-boat,  voyage  in,  i.  405. 

Wheeler,  Mr.,  i.  loi. 

Wherrett,  A.  E.,  ii.  285. 

White  ants  as  food,  ii.  324. 

White  Fathers,  the,  at  Kwa 
Mouth,  ii.  133. 

White,  H.,  arrival  of,  ii.  208  ; 
voyage  of,  ii.  220  ; his  liter- 
ary work,  ii.  273;  at  Sargent 
Station,  ii.  284;  illness  and 
death,  ii.  285. 

White,  Mrs.,  ii.  284. 

White  river,  ii.  86. 

Whitebait  fishing,  i.  391. 

Whitehead,  J.,  his  literary 
work,  ii.  18,  243. 

Whitley,  H.,  retirement  of,  ii. 
56  ; return  to  work,  ii.  76; 
illness  of,  ii.  165;  death  of, 
ii.  178,  179. 

Wilkinson,  F.,  ii.  208. 


Willem,  the,  voyage  in,  i.  466. 
Winds,  i.  153. 

Winton,  Sir  F.  de,  ii.  59. 
Witch,  discovery  of  a,  i.  270. 
Witch-burning,  ii.  40. 
Witch-doctors,  i.  264  sq.,  273. 
Witch  palavers,  i.  41 1,  413. 
Wolff,  Dr.,  kindness  of,ii.  103. 
Woman,  murder  of  a,  ii.  108. 
Women,  dress  of,  i.  404. 

Wood  fuel,  ii.  137. 

Woods,  African,  i.  99. 
Wrestling,  ii.  289  sq. 

Write,  native  anxiety  to  learn 
to,  i.  159. 

Writing,  native  language  re- 
duced to,  i.  237. 


Y. 

Yakusu,  the,  ii.  282  ; wrestling, 
ii.  289 sq.;  gambling,  ii.  293; 
currency,  ii.  293. 

Yalala  Falls,  i.  41 1. 

Yams,  i.  159. 

Yanga,  i.  360. 

Yongo,  i.  120,  165. 


Z. 

Zaire  or  Congo  river,  i.  19. 
Zanzibaris,  i.  435,  434. 

Zeka,  story  of,  ii.  330  sq. 
Zinga,  i.  326,  317. 

Zombo  .Station,  story  of,  ii. 
401  sq. ; Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis 
at,  ii.  403. 

Zombo  traders,  i.  184. 

Zue  river,  i.  341 . 

Zulu,  i.  194. 

Zumbi,  a charm,  i.  260. 


OXFORD ; HORACE  HART 
FRINTER  TO  THE  UNIVERSITV 


DATE  DUE 


Mnv  ^ 1QQQ 

Demco,  Inc.  38-293 


